The Worst Witch 2017 - The Pentangles Scholarship
by the stargate time traveller
Summary: AU. "You're the odd one out here, Mildred." During the Spelling Bee competition Mildred was offered by Pippa Pentangle a place at Pentangles. But what if she took it after she was accused of something she hadn't done and discovered she could be a witch after all?
1. Chapter 1 Crime and Punishment

Disclaimer - I don't own the Worst Witch. I just wanted to do something different. Enjoy.

Crime & Punishment.

The main courtyard of Pentangles magical Academy had never accommodated such a large number of people, each of them held in place by manacles that chained them all so they couldn't move. There were teenagers, young preteens and adults, some who were dressed in the traditional clothes of witches and wizards. The strange thing was there were more students at the school than there would have been normally. One group of young witches and wizards belonged to Pentangles. They were easy to differentiate with their dark purple uniforms, and they were all whispering and chattering to themselves as they looked terrified at what was happening in their beloved school.

The second group, consisting strictly of witches only, were from Cackles Academy, a famous school for magic, and while their rivalry with Pentangles was fierce, they were like their counterparts as they gazed in terror at what was happening. Four of the adults stood out - the most powerful and distinguished was the Great Wizard, resplendent in the traditional blue robes with silver accents that denoted his office. Near him was Ada Cackle, a witch who was short with white-grey hair and a kindly face behind spectacles. Her face, which was usually smiling, looked terrified. Next to Ada was Hecate Hardbroom, her potions mistress. A beautiful woman with her hair tied back in a severe bun, she was tall and thin, dressed in black. Hecate was looking on with terror like her old friend.

Besides the Great Wizard, Ada and Hecate stood Pippa Pentangle, the headmistress of Pentangles Magical Academy. It was hard not to miss her since she was dressed in robes of pink. Many people had underestimated Pippa over the years because she liked to stand out in a brighter color than a traditional witch, but while she was glamorous and kept up with the latest fashions, she was not stupid. She was a very driven and ambitious woman who had worked long and hard to build her school. Like the others, she looked frightened, but she was looking at one figure in particular, one of her students, a little witch.

It had only been 3 months, but it seemed like a lifetime since she had brought this special girl into her school, and she hadn't regretted it since because she had succeeded in proving her detractors wrong by attending Pentangles when she'd been offered a scholarship here. It just was not fair this girl had to fight other people's battles. Pippa should be the one down there, but instead she wasn't and she looked down at the ground at the shattered pieces of a glass bottle. Looking around the courtyard, her heart tearing to pieces at the sight of various boys and girls sobbing in fear over what was going to happen, Pippa could see the glinting remains of other bottles, the sun refracting through the glass causing the shards to sparkle maliciously, as though mocking them for their hopelessness.

Her heart went out to the little girl whom she had brought into her school 3 months ago, seething with rage as she looked at the women who was holding everyone at her school a prisoner.

Agatha Cackle and Miss Gullet. It didn't really surprise Pippa all that much that Ada's twin was a vicious psychopath, what did surprise her were the lengths Agatha was willing to go in order to capture Cackles Academy, and once more Pippa cursed the Witches code with the inflexible and severe Inheritance clauses that stated only the eldest child would be the one to inherit the family legacy; Pippa had an elder brother, but while it had made sure that their parents had given him everything she hadn't let that get in the way of her own ambitions when it occurred to her she could be her own person. It had taken a while to realise that, but when she had, Pippa realised it was the best thing to ever happen to her, and look at what she'd accomplished over his life. She had become a teacher, learning that she loved working with children and helping them develop as fully fledged magicians.

She hadn't expected the woman to go to such lengths, using potions brewed by herself and Miss Gullet in order to capture and magically restrain everyone at Pentangles so then they were hopeless against her.

All to get to Mildred. Mildred herself was standing before Agatha and Miss Gullet, both of them dressed in long black cloaks and pointed hats, the garb of a qualified witch though Agatha didn't have her powers it was the symbolism that counted the most, her hands manacled and chained with a shimmering bubble of magic to stop her escaping. Pippa struggled against her bonds even knowing it was hopeless.

Hecate saw her attempts to escape and sighed to herself, knowing there was little point trying to struggle until the potion wore off to the point where they could use their powers to escape; while Miss Gullet's speciality was in Spells she wasn't a slouch when it came to potions, and the potion she and Agatha had used against them was strong. Hecate had never felt so useless in her entire life and she wondered, for the first time ever, how non-magical people coped without magic. She had never given them much thought in the past, not when there was work to do, magic and spells to learn. She remembered being contemptuous towards Julie Hubble, who was the first parent, she had never met a child born from a non-magical family, and she lowered her head in shame, simply because she had believed Julie to be beneath her notice.

Agatha's voice broke through everyone's thoughts. "At last you are exactly where I want you, Mildred, chained up like the little freak you are," she sneered.

Pippa growled to herself. She and her staff and students had worked long and hard to restore and rebuild Mildred's self confidence after the gross mismanagement at Cackles, and she would be damned if she was going to let this….this bitch who had invaded her school and practically destroyed another verbally abuse one of her students, and for what? She closed her eyes, willing her magic to burn through the potion saturated in her system; she didn't care if she burnt herself out with exhaustion, she was going to kill Agatha if she touched a single hair on Mildred's head. She had sworn to protect and nurture her students, and Mildred was no exception.

Pippa could feel the magic burning through the potion, but the potion was still too strong and she couldn't burn through it right away. She wasn't surprised Agatha and Miss Gullet had overpowered everyone with this potion, especially with the Great Wizard who had just visited with a few others to see how well the Cackles students were taking their new temporary home at Pentangles.

Try as she might, Pippa couldn't burn through the potion enough to make a difference, she would have to wait for the potion to wear off before her magic could return. Cursing herself for being such a weakling, Pippa ignored the sweat dripping from her forehead and looked sadly at the girl standing chained up in front of Agatha. "I'm so sorry, Millie," she whispered broken hearted. "You're on your own."

To her surprise she noticed a tearful Hecate Hardbroom trying to burn through the potion herself, and her forehead crinkled in surprise at seeing the reaction Hecate had.

"As you may remember Mildred dear," Agatha mocked, "I don't have my powers thanks to my sister. But you will help me there. I'm surprised, Mildred; accused of theft, scorned by even your friends-"

"Okay, you've made your point," Mildred interrupted, the unusual sharpness shutting Agatha up as did the irritation and the older woman looked at her with an expression that made Pippa's skin crawl. "What are you getting at?"

"Wouldn't it be nicer if you didn't have to worry about spells or potions or flying? I've been told by Miss Gullet here," Agatha said, gesturing lazily at the disgraced spells science teacher who grinned next to her, "about your shortcomings. Is that why you decided to come to this second rate school?"

Pippa ground her teeth, fingers itching to show this woman how wrong she was. She had always hated that, she had worked long and hard to make her school a top rate establishment, using a variety of subjects to attract students, and she would be damned if she was going to let someone like Agatha sneer at all her work.

"Leave Pentangles out of it, Agatha. Just get on with it," Mildred said.

Agatha's eyes flashed and her hand swung out and slapped Mildred across the face.

"NO!" Pippa screamed, almost drowned out by the cries from Maud Spellbody and Enid Nightshade and a fair number of student from Pentangles, but Agatha and Miss Gullet ignored the Pentangles headmistress and everyone else as they enjoyed seeing Mildred's head snap back but she didn't appear to be hurt.

"I'm sorry to use those methods Mildred, but consider this; wouldn't it be nice if you gave your magic to someone else?" Agatha asked in a sickly sweet manner as though she hadn't just slapped the girl in front of her. Pippa couldn't believe Agatha; did she really think Mildred would do something so wasteful? If she did it was no wonder she had been defeated twice already.

Mildred didn't seem impressed either. "Someone like you, you mean? Ha! You need to learn to be a bit more subtle, Agatha. I knew what you were getting at only a few seconds into your…..speech. Why should I give my magic to you?"

"Doesn't your magic deserve a more deserving caster, Mildred? Don't you feel angry and hurt by what your fair weathered friends did to you? They turned their backs on you, saying you weren't worthy of magic - what if they're right, and besides don't you feel like you're wasting your life here at this school?" Agatha looked around the courtyard at the pristine white buildings of Pentangles. "They said you are not a witch, what if they're right?"

Pippa glared hotly at Maud and Enid in the crowd, but they didn't see her face, but she could see the way they looked ashamed of themselves. Good. They deserved a little shaming after saying that about a girl who had more talent than half of the Cackles girls put together.

But Mildred's bright smile took everyone by surprise. "That's a nice offer Agatha, so nice to see you've turned over a new leaf," she said sarcastically, "but there are two things you need to know."

Agatha sighed even as Miss Gullet snorted impatiently. "And what my dear girl is that?"

"First, its a bit rich of you to judge me for not being a witch when I am a witch and you've got no powers, meaning you have to resort to using this idiot," she gestured at Miss Gullet, "to do your dirty work."

Pippa closed her eyes. She was all for causing problems for Agatha and Miss Gullet after all they'd done, but she didn't see how it would help if she insulted the woman who was still older and more experienced than she was, but while she had faith in Mildred she didn't want her hurt because of one wrong word.

She opened her eyes to find Miss Gullet glaring and hissing at Mildred, but only Agatha's outstretched arm stopped the former teacher from doing something stupid - Pippa wasn't sure whether to be grateful or scared.

"What was the second thing I needed to know?" she ground out impatiently, desperate to regain her magic.

Mildred grinned. "Second…..I am not really in front of you."

Pippa blinked in shock, and she glanced at the entourage around her, and wasn't surprised to see the looks of puzzlement on their faces, it reflected her own. "What have you done now, Millie?" Pippa whispered in surprise.

* * *

 _ **Three months ago.**_

* * *

Felicity Foxglove was busy curling her hair in her bedroom when she was startled by a knocking on the door. "Who is it?" she called.

"It's Mildred, mind if I come in?"

"Sure," Felicity called, wondering for a second why Mildred was outside and why she wanted to come in; she didn't have a problem with Mildred, not like Ethel Hallow did, but while her fellow student struggled Felicity did admire her because she knew Mildred was doing her best and some of the things that she went through on a daily basis were just accidents. For the life of her, Felicity didn't understand why Mildred wasn't taken in by Miss Cackle or even Miss Bat and given some hints and tips on how to live as a witch, and she wasn't even certain if Mildred had even bothered to ask for help, but if she didn't pull herself together she could be kicked out of the school.

Mildred opened the door. Felicity looked at her with concern, Mildred was still wearing her school uniform which looked fairly rumpled after an entire day and a detention where she had spent 2-3 hours cleaning up the mess from the potions lab, and she looked extremely tired. In fact, Felicity wouldn't be surprised if HB had made Mildred clean the entire lab. Felicity couldn't blame her for being tired and fed up and this time she felt Miss Hardbroom had punished her too harshly. The mess she had cleaned up wouldn't have taken long, Felicity had made the same mistake when she was younger, it had only taken 10 minutes, but in Mildred's case Miss Hardbroom had made it harder.

Mildred's latest potions mishap had nearly destroyed the potions lab and had covered the whole workstation she was working at with a gloop that had the consistency of treacle and the smell of wallpaper paste so Mildred had been told to stay there and clean the whole thing up and the humiliation was further compounded by the other potions lessons HB had, but in Felicity's eyes it was just another reason for Mildred to ask Miss Hardbroom for help and advice - if the woman would actually be kind enough to give it, but surely the teacher didn't want Mildred to fail, did she? - about how potions worked, because if she didn't then she would cause more mishaps.

But Miss Hardroom wasn't the most approachable teachers in the school, and she had seemed to take an almost perverse pleasure in putting Mildred into detention, with that kind of attitude for the job it was probably no wonder Mildred had not asked Miss Hardbroom for help. Felicity herself probably wouldn't either, but unlike some of the other girls Felicity sympathised with Mildred since she herself had been awful at brewing potions when she was younger, and it had driven her mother mad. It had taken years for her to get through it and be better, but she knew if she could do it then Mildred could as well. She just needed time and help. While her mother had been frustrated with her own lack of progress, Felicity was lucky that her mother had been patient enough to take her through it nice and gentle so then she'd be prepared for her education at Cackles Academy.

Mildred hadn't had that advantage and it wasn't her fault, and Miss Hardbroom didn't have the right to victimise and single her out of the entire class as the worst witch. That was a truly unfair title.

At the sight of Felicity in her nightie, Mildred back peddled. "Sorry, Felicity, I didn't know you were getting ready for bed," she apologised.

"It's okay. Rough detention?" Felicity asked in concern, seeing Mildred looked like she was only just holding herself up right, in fact she looked like she was about to collapse because her back couldn't hold her up. She must have done a lot of bending down to get a back like that.

Mildred nodded, "Yeah. I don't know why Miss Hardbroom keeps giving me the dirty jobs, but she loves it. Felicity, do you have the homework set by Mr Rowan-Webb; I was in detention for hours thanks to Miss Hardbroom and Miss Cackle?"

"Have you asked Maud or Enid for the homework sheet?" Felicity asked, standing up and padding over to her desk to get it for Mildred.

"I've only just gotten away from the potions lab, and I don't know what the homework Mr Rowan-Webb looks like," Mildred replied, though her eyes caught sight of something near Felicity on the desk. "Besides, Maud and Enid are asleep and I didn't want to disturb them. I saw your light under the door so I decided to try my luck."

Felicity nodded absently as she picked up the homework sheet, just as she noticed Mildred had crossed the room and had knelt by the desk to look into the star globe on the table. The star globe was incredibly beautiful, it was made from glass that in some areas looked like coarse and rough metal. If you had to think of the right colour to describe the shade of the metal and glass Mildred could honestly say she had no idea, and she was an artist.

Her best guess was a shade of black, mixed with dark brown and a rich purple before being mixed with gunmetal grey and flecked with silver and gold.

Mildred looked closer into the sphere and she felt as though she was being catapulted on a broom through the sky upwards into space. Particles of gold, silver and red sparkled in front of her eyes, and she was almost blinded by a sun before being shoved close to a supernova that was shifting with superheated gas and light.

Mildred gasped as she felt as though her eyes were being taken on a trip without her body throughout the solar system. One minute she was looping around Earth, gazing down on the Pacific ocean with its varying shades of blue and turquoise, and saw Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, and the islands between those three and the Americas, the next she was gazing at the Moon. Mildred had heard of the Sea of Tranquility, but with the pockmarked and gritty nature of the moon, it made it hard for the girl to categorise the geography, and then she found herself shooting towards Saturn; why she wasn't seeing Venus, Jupiter or Mercury, she had no idea, but she wasn't going to complain as she took in the rings.

"Mildred, snap out of it."

Mildred? Who was Mildred? She thought to herself distractedly. Oh yeah, its my name. Someone was distracting her from the beauty of the solar system, but then she felt a hand roughly pulling her away from the globe and she came back to the here and now, and she remembered where she was, but the sudden shift from the sheer size of the solar system to the cramped confines of Felicity's bedroom made Mildred overbalance and she fell to the ground.

"Ooh, sorry Mildred," Felicity gushed as she held out her hands to help the girl stand up. "I forgot how it could shake up the balance looking into a star globe like that."

"It's okay. A what?" Mildred asked as Felicity helped her to sit down on the bed.

Felicity smiled and picked it up and showed it to Mildred. "It's a star globe," Felicity whispered to the other girl, passing the globe over to her, "they're used by astrologers, when they could find them that is, and they are also used to show children the kind of masterpieces you could make with magical crafting."

Mildred was awed by the beauty of the globe when she caught on to what Felicity had just said, "What do you mean, when astrologers could find them?"

"They are very rare," Felicity answered, putting emphasis on the last two words. "Only a handful of them were ever made, and the ones that came afterwards, well they weren't very good replicas, and they didn't work as well as the originals."

Mildred nodded, "Kind of like the old Masters," she commented, "you could forge as many of their paintings as you'd like, but they don't really seem to capture the original's essence."

"Yeah, but the star globes go back a very long time," Felicity replied, remembering seeing some of the old Van Gogh's over the years, her mother had a love for art and Felicity, being exposed to it, had acquired her own tastes long ago. "They are incredibly hard to find, and they are so rare that if you had more than a hundred and seventy families, only three of them were bound to have one in their possession."

Mildred whistled as she tried to work out just how many of these globes had been made originally, but her shaky grasp of mathematics didn't give her the answer. "It's beautiful anyway," she said instead, "how long have you had it?"

"Not long. It was a birthday present, and I've often been distracted by looking into it," Felicity smiled dreamily at the globe still in Mildred's grip, "and sometimes I get lost looking into it."

"Then you'd better not let HB catch you, she might confiscate it," Mildred said quickly, reminded of how her mobile phone had been taken by the woman; she didn't know to this day whether the phone had been vanished out of existence or had simply been confiscated.

"She would not dare," Felicity's dreamy countenance shifted into something more serious, so quickly Mildred was taken aback; she was used to Felicity being upbeat and cheerful. "Star globes are precious magical items, and even Miss Hardbroom wouldn't be so stupid to touch them for two very good reasons. First, I have a proof of ownership license for the globe. The rarity of a star globe makes it necessary to have one, and if Miss Hardbroom or one of the other teachers decided to take it then I could simply contact my parents, and they'd have Miss Cackle return it. Second, the star globes were made by Merlin himself. Merlin was one of the greatest wizards who ever lived, Mildred, the founder of the Craft and our entire way of life. No one knows why he created them, never mind how, but they are masterpieces of magical craftsmanship and art. If HB sees the globe she will leave it alone. There aren't many artefacts of Merlin, Mildred, so they are even more precious."

Mildred looked down into the globe with awe. She had of course heard of Merlin, but this was the first time she had heard of him in Cackles Academy. She was holding something created by the legendary wizard himself! Seeing Mildred's arms starting to shake and knowing only too well how careless the girl could be, Felicity quickly grabbed the globe so it wouldn't fall to the ground. "You'd better be careful with globes like these, Mildred," she warned as she took the globe to the desk, "they don't damage easily, but if you damage them there is no way to fix them."

"Oh, sorry," Mildred crinkled her face sheepishly. If there was one thing she hated the most about herself it was the fact when she became nervous she couldn't stop herself from dropping things she shouldn't.

At Cackles, with things like the Witches' code and Hardbroom over her shoulders, that form of self loathing had grown worse because she was still unsure about the magical world and what the dos and don'ts were. If she had damaged this beautiful piece of magical art then she could have found herself in a lot of trouble.

"No harm's done," Felicity waved a hand to show it was not important, and she put the globe down on her desk. She picked the sheet up and she was just handing it to Mildred when a familiar voice echoed around the room.

"Mildred Hubble," Miss Hardbroom appeared, making Mildred and Felicity jump and Felicity even bumped into the desk at the sudden appearance of the potions mistress. Mildred swallowed a little. She had had more than enough of this woman for the day after having to put up with her forcing her (Mildred) to clean up the workstation in the potions lab, and then the rest of the lab. Miss Hardbroom didn't look tired which was a contrast to Mildred herself, who probably looked as tired and fed up as she felt. Instead the teacher looked very much alert and as neat as ever, and Mildred felt jealous just looking at her smart appearance. "What are you doing here when you should be in bed?"

"Miss Hardbroom, I was just picking up the homework set by Mr Rowan-Webb," Mildred said quickly before the potions mistress could make one of her unfair assumptions.

The potions mistress nodded slowly, her eyes travelling to the homework sheet which confirmed Mildred's little story about being up and about. "Very well," she said in that cool manner that made her sound like a purring cat that exuded smugness that said she had had all the cream and the canary and she did not give a damn about who knew about it. "Get to bed now, Mildred! While your desire to continue and further your education here at Cackles is commendable, that does not give you the right to keep your schoolmates up."

If there was one thing Mildred hated about Miss Hardbroom it was how quickly she could go from smooth to rough when it came to verbally smacking down students.

"Yes Miss Hardbroom," Mildred whispered, glancing at Felicity and said gratefully, "Thanks for the sheet, Felicity, and thanks for showing me the globe."

Felicity smiled back, she would have said something back to Mildred but with Miss Hardbroom in the same room at this time of night she didn't dare.

Mildred didn't mind, knowing only too well how intimidating Miss Hardbroom was up close. She walked out of the room and headed off to her own room. She didn't have time to work on the homework with Miss Hardbroom prowling around but she would have time in the morning to sort it out, so she put it on her desk and made sure it was visible for when she woke up.

The sight of the bed in her room with Tabby resting on it made her realise how tired she was, and so Mildred lurched around the room to get her uniform off and get herself ready for bed. It took her a few minutes to get her hair out of its plaits and comb it out, and it took her another minute to feed her cat and then climb into bed, but Mildred was grateful when she got under the covers and she rested her head and back on the pillow and mattress with a sigh of relief. What a waste of a day, she thought to herself, guessing that Hardbroom had already told Miss Cackle about the latest disaster.

Mildred shut her eyes for a second, wishing and not for the first time she had the same basic training and knowledge the other girls had with potions. It was so frustrating; Miss Cackle had only allowed her to stay at Cackles after that mess with the entrance exam on a trial basis, one that was costing her mother money. Mildred had thought it would be fairly straightforward to learn how to be a witch but she was wrong since most of the subjects covered things she hadn't even heard of, she had to cast spells and magic with rhymes. Mildred had watched dozens of movies and cartoons which approached magic like that. The entertainment business had no idea how accurate, they were, but for Mildred Hubble it was a nightmare because she was a long way from truly understanding how it all worked. Okay, some times it was straightforward, but while some of her detractors (and boy, did she have detractors!) believed she was hopeless with magic, Mildred did try to practice her powers in the privacy of her own room while Maud and Enid weren't around.

Thinking about Maud and Enid hurt Mildred, who grimaced; while she liked both girls, Mildred had to admit they weren't very good at encouragement nor were they good at teaching her some basics when it came to magic. While they were both good with magic, Enid and Maud had not reached the same level as experienced witches like Miss Cackle or Miss Hardbroom, so there was not much they could teach her, really. They had taught her a few tips and a given her a few hints about magic, but that was it. And besides all that the timetable of Cackles and the never ending number of tests and exams that cropped up every week made it very tricky to find the time for them to help but Mildred felt she had improved, deep down, though her constant failings frustrated her no end. Her teachers thought she was not trying. Ha!

Mildred shook her head softly and opened her eyes for a second to turn the light off, and she just snuggled under the covers, hoping that the night would soothe her aching head and the new day would be better than the one that had just passed. She was also hungry. Miss Hardbroom had made sure of that by forcing her to clean up every inch of the workstation and then forcing her to clean the rest of the lab for 3 hours, making her miss her last two lessons and causing her to lose quite a bit of credibility. Dinner was practically over by the time she'd finished, and the Dinner witches were so nasty it wasn't worth speaking to them about the weather never mind a Sunday roast.

I hate potions, Mildred thought to herself, guessing that Miss Hardbroom was probably nearby, and she would probably pounce on her for just saying something against her subject. Mildred had had more than enough of Miss Hardbroom for one day, she didn't need to make it two days in a row.

As she drifted off to sleep, Mildred thought for a second whether Cackles was worthwhile and in the end. Yes, she was learning how to be a witch, but the more she thought about it the more she felt a bit unsettled; her time at the school had gone through so many lurches and twists and turns, and she had gone through so many disasters that it was hard to imagine what else could go wrong. Potion accidents, spell mishaps, broomstick nightmares, the bullying from people like Ethel and Miss Hardbroom who seemed to have a twisted vendetta against her….they didn't seem to hold a candle to the messes she had gotten into with Agatha Cackle, being turned into a frog and almost being killed by the numerous cats in the school, and the Great Wizard who'd been manipulated by Agatha into a straightforward plan to not only see her get killed but her sister out of being Headmistress.

How nasty and selfish could you get, killing two girls just so you could get your sister out of her post as headmistress?

Mildred sometimes thought that the relationship between herself and the Cackles teachers was akin to a dog being given treats for good behaviour; she had been awarded with the opportunity to learn magic at the school after that first mess with Agatha, and she'd received little but abuse and punishments afterwards. How was she supposed to understand magic if everyone but her knew how it worked?

Mildred had once asked Miss Hardbroom if she could help, but the teacher had told her she didn't have the time, and in any case if she (Mildred) was so dead set on becoming a witch, she should not need to ask for anything. Mildred had heard that stuff before over the last six months, and she hated it, it sickened her that these people at this school who called themselves teachers didn't seem to act like teachers, and it wasn't just HB. Cackle, Bat, even Mr Rowan-Webb didn't seem inclined to help her. While they'd refused much like Hardbroom, they were more polite about it, or they offered some pathetic excuse.

Mildred closed her eyes, wondering where the exhaustion that had taken her body over previously had gone because she was very tired and she just wanted to get to sleep. But no, her treacherous brain and mind was seemingly ganging up on her and keeping her awake.

* * *

Someone roughly shaking her brought her back to the real world. "Mildred Hubble, wake UP!"

Mildred groaned as the strident voice went through her ears to freeze her brain. "W-wha?" she tried to say, but her mind was still partially asleep. Whoever was shaking her didn't seem to care, and as Mildred gradually became more awake, she became aware of the sounds of people nearby who were making a vast amount of noise. "What's going on?" she managed to say before blearily sitting up and looking around the room, blinking rapidly and rubbing her eyes to push life back into them. What she saw made the sleep leave her mind as she looked on in horror.

Her bedroom was in chaos with Miss Cackle, Miss Bat, and Mr Rowan-Webb and Miss Drill opening and closing drawers in the desk rapidly, and going through them all thoroughly. Miss Hardbroom was standing over her, and Mildred realised to her growing horror that none of the teachers looked particularly amused or happy. In fact they looked furious for some reason. "What's happening?" she asked, already dreading the answer.

"Where is the Star globe, Mildred?" Miss Hardbroom's voice was like a knife left in the arctic ice for a year before being sharpened with an oiled whetstone.

Mildred looked up at her potions mistress uncomprehendingly. "Felicity's star globe, what do you mean where is it? It was in Felicity's room, last I checked."

Miss Cackle came over, and Mildred shivered at the look in the eyes. It reminded Mildred strongly the way Agatha looked when she had threatened her during that last mess when the Great Wizard was visiting, but now she could definitely see the family resemblance since Ada Cackle was more of a human being than her sister.

"It's not there anymore. Felicity is quite upset by the loss of the globe, and since Miss Hardbroom says you were in her bedroom….." Miss Cackle broke off suddenly, and turned around with a look of disgust on her face that Mildred just caught. "Theft is not only frowned upon in this school, Mildred, it is harshly punished. I had thought better of you."

"Hold on, you think I stole it? You're wrong. I touched it, I held it, but I didn't take it," Mildred argued. "It isn't in here. You're wasting your time."

"Miss Hardbroom says you were interested in the globe," Mr Rowan-Webb spoke up this time, and Mildred glanced at the wizard. The look on his face reminded her more of HB, with the amount of disdain written all over it. It got worse. "To think I was rescued by a thief," he hissed, shaking his head in disgust.

"Interested, yes, but that doesn't mean I stole it! I haven't done anything!" Mildred then realised something. "Wait a second, you are not calling this a trial, do you?"

"Oh no, Mildred, this isn't your trial," Miss Hardbroom said softly, and Mildred shivered already guessing that this was not going to be good in any way for her. "This is your interrogation."

Mildred looked up at her potions mistress wide eyed, unable to hide her feelings. She couldn't believe it, she just could not believe it. How could they believe she would be stupid enough to steal something as precious as a star globe from Felicity and give everyone the clue she had done it when she hadn't? She knew Cackles tended to have a bit of a 'guilty until proven innocent' mindset as opposed to the 'innocent until proven guilty' attitude Mildred was familiar with, but this was taking it too far.

"My interrogation? So what's the trial going to be then?" Even as she asked the question, Mildred guessed it was not the best thing to say.

Miss Cackle looked grave, angry, disappointed, and she looked as though she would like nothing more than to throw Mildred out of her Academy right now. "It will be before the entire school," she said softly but her voice trembled slightly as though she was trying to hold back her temper, "in the evening. In the meantime you will be isolated from the rest of the school."

Mildred felt as though her heart had just been dropped into an iceberg. "Isolated, you mean kept in here?"

"No, you will go to your lessons."

Oh no. The penny dropped in Mildred's mind when she realised what part of the punishment was going to be. She wasn't the most popular student in the school thanks to her background, her lack of proficiency in spells or potions, the way she always put her foot in her mouth because she didn't understand how magic worked, how to act and speak like a witch and so on.

But life had been bearable, but it soon would become a living nightmare. After the teachers would leave her bedroom she knew it would all come to an end. Everyone in the school was going to hate her for something she hadn't done. She had to do something, say something, anything. "Miss Cackle, please listen to me, I did not steal-"

"Then where is it, Mildred?" Miss Cackle interrupted furiously, her voice rising. "Do you have any idea what you've done?!"

Tact left Mildred at that point, but she too was growing angry. "If I had really taken that star globe, do you really think I'd be stupid enough to leave a trail that came back to me?" she asked.

"Do not ever answer me back! How would I know what a thief like you would do, but I suppose it makes sense seeing as you come from a non-magical background. Did your mother teach you how to be a thief, Mildred, is that why you cannot perform a simple spell successfully?"

Mildred let out a gasp as tears began to fill her eyes. Oh, that was a low blow, something she would have expected from someone like Agatha since even Miss Hardbroom and Ethel Hallow seemed to have seen the thin line that separated insults to her mother, she just had never expected Ada Cackle to say something so cruel. But as soon as the horrible reply left the woman's mouth, she seemed to realise what she had said because there was a flash of regret over her face, but it quickly disappeared.

* * *

If the teachers judgemental attitudes were bad then Mildred could positively say her life in Cackles had become a living hell, so by the time the evening came she was so mentally beaten she didn't really care what the teachers or the students did to her anymore.

When she looked back on it all, Mildred could honestly say the teachers harshness was restrained, whether by age or experience that stopped them unleashing their pent up fury towards her, Mildred could not really tell. But Mildred guessed they felt they didn't need to, not since the rest of the school population seemed to have that well in hand.

Everyone in Cackles knew what Mildred had supposedly done with the star globe and the moment she left her bedroom, she was attacked in the corridors, threatened with vicious curses and was even hit with spells that made her feel as though she'd just been struck with a wrecking ball to the chest. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your point of view, girls like Esmerelda Hallow stopped them, only to tell them that the thief would get what was coming to her later.

Looking up into Esmerelda's face, Mildred finally saw the resemblance between the older girl and her sister Ethel, and since Mildred had always liked Esmerelda until now it was really painful. But that was nothing compared to the way the older girl spoke to her afterwards, how she should never have been given the chance to become a witch after that mess with the entrance exam. Mildred had stayed absolutely silent, she had had nothing she really wanted to say to the girl or to the others, no she was just memorising everything they said to her so then if things took a different turn then she would know better than to forgive and forget.

But the worst was to come in the shape of Maud and Enid. The moment Mildred saw both of them she had known things were going to be bad, well worse than they were already. Maud and Enid had been Mildred's friends for six months, they were the only bright spot in her life, the only friends she really had, and without them Cackles became more like the gauntlet.

They both seemed to believe the news she was guilty though how they had reached that conclusion Mildred had no idea. She had no idea what had been said to the two girls, but she knew it was anything good.

It wasn't.

"Miss Hardbroom and Ethel were right when they said girls from non-magical families couldn't be trusted," Maud told her after barely listening to Mildred, who had spent two minutes trying to explain what had happened.

"Maud, please don't say that. I'm trying to tell you what happened; yeah, I went into Felicity's room to ask for the homework set for Spells, but I didn't steal the star globe. I admired it, yeah, but I didn't take it," Mildred pleaded with her and Enid, but neither girl was having it.

"Yeah, like we're going to trust you," Enid snapped and for the first time Mildred had known the carefree and mischievous girl the way she looked reminded her of Ethel Hallow. "Witches don't steal anything, we don't need to. Magic can give us whatever we want. But you, well you're from outside our world, so who knows what you've been taught?"

The implications of that last question angered Mildred, and she couldn't believe they'd think that of her or her mum. They knew the woman for heaven's sake.

"Leave my mother out of this! We are not thieves," Mildred hissed, starting to get angry with them both, but Maud had heard more than enough at that point. "Shut up. Do you know something, you are truly the worst type of person because you pretend to be good."

"You don't deserve your powers," Enid said, glaring at her, "everyone's right about you, you non-witch freak."

Mildred took a step back, gazing at Maud and Enid, trying to picture them as the two she had met months before when they'd started at Cackles. Where had the nervous girl with the glasses who had crashed into the balcony of her flat gone, the same girl who had lost her glasses and brought her to Cackles where they'd laughed after crashing into that pond?

Looking at Enid, Mildred wondered where the girl who had been so nonchalant about being expelled from Cackles after being expelled 17 times already before she'd settled down for good had gone. Looking at them both Mildred's mind replaced Maud's round face and brown hair in bunches with Miss Hardbroom, and Enid with the blond, pale sneering features of Ethel Hallow. Their friendship was over.

By the time the trial finally dawned, Mildred had never had such a long, miserable, rotten day. Everyone was sneering at her, and at mealtimes she was given only a small helping, and even then she had to eat it fast so then the others didn't just take her food out of her mouth. But Mildred hadn't wasted her time when she had time to spare. She had gone to the library to study up on the Witches code to find out more about the laws and punishments that covered theft. She had taken to skimming the code now and again to learn more about becoming a witch, but most times she didn't bother.

This time the code was critical. But when she opened the latest edition of the Witches' code she wished she hadn't because the rules and punishments governing theft were clear and harsh. The penalty for a witch stealing from another witch wasn't something as mundane as imprisonment, no it was virtually identical to the punishment received by Agatha Cackle, and it also meant imprisonment for 50 years.

Mildred had then spent the rest of the day in the library - she didn't see the point of spending time in the classes where the lessons themselves were forgotten and the teachers actually encouraged the other girls in ganging up on her, jeering her and insulting her and her background until she cried, and besides she doubted that Cackle or HB would care - reading through the history books to gain some insight into magical theft. Enid's words about how witches didn't need to steal anything, not when they had magic to give it to them, had given her some insight but not a lot. In the end Mildred simply gave up because the history section didn't tell her a great deal about magical theft, but she did find a book about Merlin. Felicity had already told her that Merlin had founded the Craft, planted the seeds for the numerous traditions witches and wizards followed to the present day, created the magical conclaves where witches and wizards could finally live in peace and still interact with non-magical people from a position of safety, but his artefacts were considered sacred, but as she had read through the book she learnt that while the legendary wizard had more than enough magical enemies to fill a dozen rogues galleries, he also had his fair share of non-magical enemies. Bandits, rival kings with delusions of grandeur, petty criminals who wanted Merlin and his power to gain more power and were so arrogant they believed kidnapping him would be effortlessly easy. They had also tried stealing from him, only for the wizard to make them regret it. As Mildred read through that part of the history of Merlin she wondered if that was one of the reasons why theft was treated so harshly anyone who was near the person or object that had gone missing was instantly suspected without any proper investigation. It would certainly fit with what Mildred had learnt so far of witches and wizards; accuse first and don't bother performing a proper investigation afterwards.

In the end she was glad to leave the library when a cold Miss Hardbroom materialised in front of her table. "It's time," the woman had said.

Mildred was silent. Miss Hardbroom believed she was being compliant but Mildred was furious underneath her facade.

Miss Hardbroom didn't bother to use a transportation spell to take them both to the Great Hall, instead the woman had escorted Mildred there on foot, though why Mildred didn't know, but as they walked she found herself not caring one bit, though it occurred to her the teacher was only doing it to increase the tension. All day Mildred had felt like she was on Death Row, now that the deed was going to be done that feeling she was about to face her own execution grew like a balloon filled with water. Miss Hardbroom had not said a word to her, not one word, not even commenting that she hadn't attended any of her set lessons, and Mildred didn't bother saying anything to her; Miss Hardbroom had never wanted her to attend Cackles, she had made it abundantly clear to Mildred she believed children from non-magical families had no place learning magic, so for her she must be delighted that she had been proven right in her beliefs and Miss Cackle must be kicking herself for believing otherwise, but as the silence stretched and the only sounds coming from the two of them as they walked to the Great Hall was the echo of their footsteps and the gentle sound of their breathing and the swish of their clothes, and the aura coming from Miss Hardbroom didn't welcome any kind of talk. As the journey wore on, Mildred found herself thinking it was probably for the best.

The moment she walked into the Great Hall, pushed a little bit roughly by Miss Hardbroom to get her through the door, Mildred's horror increased. Every single student and teacher had filled the hall from the younger students to the older students, and all of them wore their cloaks and hats. Miss Hardbroom, now wearing her own cloak and hat after using magic, escorted her to a single hard wooden seat in the middle of the room before walking over to sit on Miss Cackles right side.

No one said a word as Mildred sat down, feeling isolated but after an entire day of being isolated and maligned by everyone in the school, Mildred was more than used to it, the only thing that did frighten Mildred was what could happen to her. Her mind went back to the first day she had been in the school, back when Agatha had used the Witches code to take hold of the school, the only reason Mildred had managed to stop her was because as a girl from outside the magical world the code the witches followed like diehard Christians followed the Bible didn't apply to her, but it had been six months since that day and Mildred had no idea whether her status had changed. She shivered at the thought of not only losing her magic but being imprisoned somewhere far away from her mum. With luck, Cackle and everyone else would be feeling generous and let her return with just her magic gone. At that point Mildred was willing to give up her powers just to be back home where she was safe.

Miss Cackle had been silent the whole time Mildred had entered the hall and her expression was so cold and mask like Mildred shivered just looking at it. Finally she spoke, in a voice so hard even her delusional sister would find it hard to match. "You are late," she uttered, and she turned to Miss Hardbroom. "Where did you find her?"

"In the library," Miss Hardbroom answered clearly. Mildred shuddered, from the way HB said that you'd think it was a crime to be in a library.

Miss Cackle seemed to be considering asking what Mildred was doing there and Mildred herself was preparing to explain why she was there in the first place, but Miss Cackle didn't seem interested. In fact, judging by the look on her face and the expressions everyone else in the hall was sporting, she seemed determined to get all this over and done with.

"It doesn't matter," the headmistress declared at last, "even though it gave the impression you had run away Miss Hubble from this trial, it doesn't matter now."

Cackle paused for a second, her expression unhappy and pained for a moment before she sat up straight. "As all of you are aware, theft is something that is frowned upon in our community," she announced, "but since the accused is a non-witch and doesn't understand our ways, then I shall have to remind you all of how in the past many families had used their magic to steal possessions, including valuable spells and potions from those families. Under the Witches code this kind of crime is punishable by several means, but since Mildred Hubble here is underage and a non-witch, her punishment will be the removal of her powers and imprisonment back in her world."

There were a few mutters at that, but the one that got Mildred's attention came from Maud. "Good riddance."

Miss Cackle waved her hands and magically silenced everyone in the hall. "We shall now proceed with the trial. Miss Hardbroom, if you would?"

"Yes, Headmistress," Miss Hardbroom inclined her head before she transported herself from her spot at the staff table and reappeared by Mildred's shoulder. "What were you doing in Felicity Foxglove's bedroom?" she asked Mildred.

Hoping she could at last find a way to defend herself properly and make one of the others doubt her guilt, Mildred jumped at the chance to explain. "I had just gotten off detention," she began, but Miss Hardbroom interrupted her. "I wish to clarify that the detention the accused is referring to was a detention set by myself. Miss Hubble here had destroyed the cauldron, covering her workstation in potion waste. I had given her detention to clean the mess up and it took three hours."

"Noted," Miss Cackle said, the disappointment flashing over her face, clearly regretting her decision of allowing Mildred into her school in the first place since she couldn't perform a simple potion, "carry on."

Miss Hardbroom inclined her head again in Miss Cackles' direction before looking down at the girl she was looming over. While in her mind where she was beginning to get an uneasy feeling, something shared by all of her colleagues, the trial had to continue. "Carry on with what you were saying," she ordered.

Mildred let out a breath, hoping she could continue to speak without being constantly interrupted and questioned. "I went to Felicity to ask for the homework set for spells because I couldn't attend the class since I was in detention," she went on, "I had checked with Miss Spellbody and Miss Nightshade, but they were unavailable, but I saw a light on in Felicity's room so I went to her. That's all I wanted, I just wanted the homework sheet."

Miss Hardbroom nodded, it tallied with what Felicity had told them. "And the star globe? Felicity says you showed a lot of interest in the globe when you saw it in her room, in fact you were taken in by its spell."

Mildred licked her lips. She wasn't an expert in criminal investigation, but she and her mother had seen a lot of police dramas in their time to know that she could reply, and Miss Hardbroom would trick her into saying something she shouldn't have said, and she was in enough trouble already. "I saw the globe, yes," she admitted, "I have been in this school for six months, and I've seen so many things that were beautiful, but the star globe was beautiful. The moment I looked into it I felt as if I was taken on a broomstick ride through space itself. Felicity snapped me out of it, and we talked."

"So you admit you were enthralled by it that you stole it then?"

Mildred's eyes widened. "W-what, no-"

"Mildred, everyone in this school knows of your interest in art," Miss Hardbroom interrupted, a smile on her face that would have seemed kind hearted if it wasn't for the malicious glint in her eyes. "It's understandable that you would be so fascinated by the globe, they are beautiful."

Suddenly Mildred's temper burned hot, it had been boiling very nicely for some time, but now it burned. "Enough to steal it you mean? No, Miss Hardbroom, I was fascinated by the globe, but it was Felicity's and I wouldn't take it from her," Mildred countered. "Art treasures are meant to be enjoyed, in private or in public. That's why people go to galleries and why they have private collections."

"Mildred, you had the time to steal the globe when I arrived in Felicity's bedroom, you must have used the distraction to take the globe," Miss Hardbroom said. "Admit it, you are a thief."

* * *

Felicity Foxglove slammed her bedroom door closed and cried into her hands. She hadn't wanted things to be thrown out of control, especially so quickly. When she'd discovered the star globe was gone, she had raised quite a stink about it and was unlucky enough to have Miss Cackle and Miss Hardbroom come into her bedroom to find out what was wrong. When she told them the star globe was missing and that Mildred had been in the room with her, both of the teachers had seemed to transform before the young witch's eyes, and they had refused to bother investigating any further than that and they hadn't even bothered to look properly through her room in case the globe was in here somewhere, and from what she had heard most of the staff had trashed Mildred's room trying to find the globe. Felicity had tried to convince the two teachers that Mildred was many things but not a thief, but the two wouldn't listen to her though Felicity had no idea why that was. The young witch had thought Miss Cackle at least wouldn't let things go this far, but she was disappointed.

Felicity had had to watch as Mildred was forced to sit through nearly every lesson today with the teachers encouraging bullying and jeering at her until she cried. Felicity had tried to stop it, but no one, not even Maud or Enid, who were supposed to be Mildred's friends had bothered to listen to her. And now she had left the great hall. It had stopped being a trial about theft, now the teachers and the rest of the girls were using the opportunity to talk about Mildred's various misdemeanours, and there were quite a few of them, but every single one of them was magnified to appear to be life threatening incidents.

It was too much and Felicity felt terrible because it was because of her.

Leaving the door she walked over to her desk and sat down, unfastening her cloak and taking off her hat. She would have liked nothing better than to try to help Mildred, but she couldn't. She let out a sigh and she opened a drawer, hoping to write a few entries into her diary and use it to write down her frustrations. She had just taken her diary out, and now she was reaching inside the drawer for a new pen to use when her fingers brushed across a familiar shape. Felicity's heart clenched as she pulled it out of the drawer. It was the star globe.

"Oh no," Felicity whispered as she finally realised what had happened. She picked the globe up, and ran out of the bedroom. She had to get to the hall before it was too late.

Mildred had been given her first taste of a magical trial and she could honestly say she hated the experience wholeheartedly. Throughout the early half of the trial everyone had been saying she had to be the thief, because logically she was the only person who had been with Felicity, so she must have stolen the globe. Mildred had told her story, repeating it every time, but no one had listened or believed her. All they had done was rehash everything they thought they knew. It had been passed around so many times Mildred had gotten sick of it. Frankly, everyone had become heartily sick of the theft angle and had definitely decided that she was guilty no matter what. Now they were using other tactics to show she shouldn't be in the school.

But this trial seemed to be used as a platform for everyone in the hall to point out every single thing she had done wrong since the year had started. Every single time Mildred had said or made some stupid comment because of her ignorance about magic and witches in general was being brought out into the open, and they were loving it. And Maud and Enid themselves had plenty of ammunition to expend, and those two had only dropped a few of the misdemeanours.

Broomstick accidents, that mess in Miss Gullet's classroom because Mildred had been having fun before with Enid (whose own involvement seemed to be overlooked), turning Ethel into a pig, being turned into a frog. Mildred just sat there deciding there was no point trying to defend herself since she had being doing little else and was now so tired of defending herself all the time she had run out of things to say.

Mildred was amazed by the hypocrisy of the witches around her. Every one of them, including Maud and Enid seemed to be forgetting their own parts in those little messes, they also seemed to forget the good that had come out of that mess with the Entrance Exam when Agatha had taken over and turned Ada into a snail (Mildred was now beginning to wish she hadn't bothered), and what about that incident when Ethel had turned her into a frog - snooty cow deserved being turned into a pig, what did she expect? - and she'd brought Mr Rowan-Webb back to the school, exposing Miss Gullet in the process? The sense of gratitude she was getting back was amazing.

That mess with the mutant hair came back, and more than one person came forwards to say her hair had almost suffocated them, well it would if they'd just run away instead of letting it engulf them. Besides, weren't they witches or not? Couldn't they have used magic to do something to stop the hair? But no. Here she was, getting the blame, and Miss Hardbroom seemed to be enjoying telling Miss Cackle to add all of those misdemeanours to the list of crimes. If the school allowed the practice of the death penalty, Mildred had no doubt that Miss Hardbroom would be pushing for it.

Time seemed to stretch for hours, but Mildred wasn't sure how long it had been since she had first walked into the hall. In the end Miss Cackle seemed to have heard enough, more than enough, and she stood up looking grave. Everyone fell silent as they watched their headmistress stand up.

"When I decided to bring this girl into the Academy, I had no idea how wrong I would be to give her the benefit of the doubt. I have had to stand up in front of my deputy on many occasions to defend this girl, but now I see that Miss Hardbroom was right all along; girls from non-magical families cannot be trusted nor can they learn magic or our beliefs."

The more Miss Cackle spoke the more hurt and furious Mildred became. She wasn't stupid, she knew how many times Cackle had defended her, but now listening to the woman speak, the things she was saying….. And then Mildred came to terms with the truth.

She had no place in Cackles Academy.

She would never be one of them, she would always be an outsider to everyone here. She would always be something to be pitied and insulted simply because she and her mother were not seen as witches. Mildred closed her eyes for a moment; she had thought she had come so far after the Entrance Exam debacle, learnt a bit about magic (and making mistakes along the way), but it was clear she would never be considered a witch. Even the words of the Great Wizard sounded like lies in her mind now.

Just as she was coming to terms with the truth, Mildred found herself wanting Cackle to kick her out, to give her the chance to grab her things (the magic stuff could stay, but her cat and her clothes would definitely be coming with her), and then HB could finally return her mobile to her, and then she could walk down to the road, and head home then they could go their own separate ways. Just as Mildred was beginning to take comfort in the idea, there was a disturbance in the hall as Felicity burst through the doors holding the star globe in her hands, hat almost flying off her head.

"STOP! Mildred didn't steal the Star globe at all! It was in my room the whole time, it had fallen in a drawer!"

Miss Cackle and Miss Hardbroom exchanged looks with the other teachers and chattered while the rest of the student body did the same thing, but Mildred didn't pay attention to any of that, she was staring at that bloody globe that had caused her so much grief in such a short amount of time, her mouth dropped to the floor in disbelief. She couldn't believe it, she couldn't believe that no one had bothered to properly search Felicity's bedroom to see if the globe had fallen underneath the bed, or had landed in a drawer and simply rolled out of sight. How stupid was Felicity? Mildred couldn't believe it or their collective stupidity; they had preferred to believe she was guilty instead of looking too deeply, if this was what being a witch meant then she wanted nothing to do with it.

Mildred was so out of it that she didn't realise how she looked, she was too busy looking at Felicity in disbelief even when Miss Hardbroom and Mr Rowan-Webb spoke to her for a few moments before heading to Miss Cackle to deliberate. The rest of the school had gone silent, now they were looking at Mildred, saw the expression on her face. It was so empty, cold and shocked. "You mean you never bothered to look for that stupid thing?" Mildred said at last when she realised she had been shocked and surprised for too long. "You put me through this nightmare when it was sitting in your drawer the whole time?"

Felicity nodded, "I am so sorry, Mildred."

"We are way past sorry, really way past sorry," Mildred hissed.

By now the teachers had realised what was going on, and Miss Cackle called out specifically for Mildred. Mildred herself was tempted not to bother listening to the old cow, but she decided to let the woman have her say. When she turned around, she didn't let the woman's sudden sorrow get to her, not after what she had just said.

"Mildred," Miss Cackle began hesitantly, "because of this new evidence, you shall continue to be a student at this Academy. We also hope you will find it in your heart to forgive us."

Forgive you?! After what you've done to me, you think I'm going to trust you again, are you delusional? Mildred just let out a breath, trying to hold back her temper, and deciding it didn't matter, she turned around and walked out of the hall, ignoring the teachers and everyone else as her mind found itself in a kind of limbo. As soon as she had cleared the threshold she broke into a run down the corridors, hoping to get away from everybody in the hall as she headed for her bedroom. She just wanted time to herself and she wanted to spend it with Tabby in the hope the cat would soothe her mind and give her some idea of what to do next. When she'd reached the door to her room, Mildred opened it and stepped in. But the sight that greeted her made her stare with horror.

The entire bedroom was trashed. Someone had used her art supplies, or what was left of them by the looks of it to scrawl the words "NON-WITCH", "FREAK GO HOME" on the walls. Her desk had been blown in half, the rickety chair was in pieces. The bed itself was upturned, the frame warped and buckled, and she could tell someone had used a spell to damage the metal beyond repair and the mattress had been practically ripped apart and the bedclothes were strewn about everywhere. The wardrobe doors had been pulverised, pieces of them lay everywhere, and Mildred only had to take a brief look inside to see that the same outfit she had worn when she had first met Spellbody (she wasn't going to bother calling her Maud anymore, they weren't friends now) had been destroyed, and pieces of the colourful fabric had made a massive pile in the destroyed wardrobe. Tears filled Mildred's eyes, her fingers lightly tracing the fabric and recoiling almost as though the material had feelings and was screaming in pain, and she blinked her tears back back a little bit as she went around the rest of the room, all of her artwork had been torn up and destroyed, and her art supplies were almost destroyed though a few things had survived here and there. Mildred picked up as many pieces of snapped pencils and painting brush and then dropped them again when she saw there was no point finding a place large enough to place them.

It took her a minute to realise she hadn't seen Tabby at all since coming back, and her heart clenched in fear as she frantically looked around her bedroom for her beloved cat, her heart thumping as she panicked, but then she found Tabby. He was hiding underneath what had once been her duvet. The moment the cat saw her, he meowed and looked the very image of a terrified pussy cat. "Tabby," Mildred gasped in surprise and picked the cat up, but she quickly dropped him when the cat yowled madly. "Tabby, what is it?" she asked, already fearing the answer as she picked him up again, slowly this time and she quickly found out what had happened.

Tabby's back leg was broken and at an unnatural angle, and the cat was in a lot of pain. Mildred let out a pained cry as she held her cat to her chest, rocking him and sobbing at the same time. She couldn't believe someone would deliberately come into her bedroom and do this - she didn't care about her possessions or her art work, not when Tabby was in serious pain. He could have been killed, what the hell were they thinking?! Mildred had always thought witches were above this kind of thing, but clearly not. Tabby yowled with her as she cradled him, and then she stopped as she began to shake with rage. Mildred didn't care about receiving physical injuries if it meant Tabby was left out of it, but that hadn't mattered to those extremist bitches who had come into her room and trashed it. How could they justify this? It was obscene! He could have been killed! What thought had passed through their brains when they had done this?

Mildred didn't care if time was getting on a bit, she was going to make sure Tabby got the best of care. She stood up, taking extra care to be gentle with her cat and she opened the door and walked down the corridors to the nurses' office. She knocked on the door. The nurse opened it. She was dressed like a normal witch with a black robe underneath but she wore the type of uniform a nurse of the 1950s wore. She looked at Mildred for a moment and then saw the cat in her arms and saw the injured leg and heard the noise he was making, and quickly opened the door.

"What happened to him?" she asked as she gestured for Mildred to lay the cat on one of the beds.

"I don't know," Mildred replied, thankful that the woman's oaths extended to animals. "I got back to my bedroom, found it trashed, and Tabby was lying underneath my bed covers, he was terrified and he yowled in pain when I tried to pick him up, but I didn't realise then one of his back legs was broken."

The nurse nodded as she cast a diagnostic spell. "This is easy enough to fix, but I'll have to give your cat a pain-reliever for it to work properly," she said, hurrying away quickly to get the relevant potion. Mildred watched her go for a second, but then stroked Tabby gently, hoping he didn't already blame her for his pain, though she wouldn't be surprised if he did. The nurse came back with a bottle in one hand and a syringe in the other.

"What's with the syringe?" Mildred asked as the nurse siphoned some of the potion into the tube.

"Oral ingestion sometimes takes too long with potions," the nurse explained, "that's fine, it gives the body time to digest it, but with medical potions the effects need to be immediate for them to work. Listen Mildred, I'm going to numb the area around your cat's injured leg so I can inject the potion, but can you please reassure your cat so I can do my work?"

Mildred nodded at once, seeing quickly that this wasn't the time to argue or to ask any stupid questions. Tabby was suitably distracted by Mildred making a fuss over him, so the nurse found it easy to cast a numbing spell over the leg and injected the potion into his thigh before casting a number of other healing spells to repair the damage. "I've managed to reset the bone, Mildred, your cat's going to have to rest for a few days for the spell to do its work, so don't be too surprised if he spends a lot of his time asleep. Just give him food and water and plenty of attention, and be gentle with him."

"I will, thank you," Mildred replied, thankful there was at least one witch who wasn't a complete and utter bitch. The revelation she didn't belong at Cackles despite the long six months trying had been a blow to Mildred's hopes and dreams of becoming a fully fledged witch.

But the nurse had more to say. "Stupid girl, bringing a star globe into a school," she muttered, "that brings back unpleasant memories from when I was accused of theft myself."

Mildred was instantly intrigued. "What happened?"

Jumping a little, the older witch winced as she realised what she had just said, but she sighed when she realised that she might as well just get on with it. "I was a year older than you are now," she explained, "and I was accused of stealing a star globe from a friend, but in actual fact one of my rivals had taken the stupid thing and hidden it in my bedroom."

"Ouch! How did you prove your innocence?"

The nurse smirked. "I brewed a truth potion and I swallowed it in front of everyone including my headmistress who recognised the potion for what it was, and it cleared my name. After that finding the real thief was easy and she lost her right to a magical education. But," the nurse's face turned ugly, "my friends turned on me, and so did the school. After that I asked my parents to take me out of the school and move me somewhere else."

The nurse smiled gently at her. "As soon as I heard the story of what happened with you, I wanted to wait and see what happened before I passed judgement. Unlike the others I think you're going to be brilliant as a witch. You've got the spirit of a witch. In fact," she quickly came to a decision, "sit down and I'm going to give you a few tips about spells…."

* * *

The nurse's words ringing in her ears, Mildred walked back to her bedroom. It wasn't much of a bedroom now after what had happened to it, but it was the only place she had that gave her an actual barrier away from the rest of the school. The moment she got back inside, she picked up a pillow and dropped it on the ground and placed Tabby on it. It took Mildred five minutes to get the mattress off what was left of the bed frame, and she draped the duvet back onto it. Tabby yowled when Mildred gently moved the pillow he was resting on before he snuggled back into the comfortable mattress. Mildred smiled gently at her cat, mentally promising him he was going to have a more comfortable bed at the flat she lived in with her mother. That reminded her, she would need to speak to her mum and tell her what happened. There was no way she was going to keep this quiet, no way.

Julie had not exactly been enthusiastic about her coming to Cackles in the first place, so Mildred had no idea how she was going to take the news that all she wanted to do now was to leave Cackles.

The bed frame was awkward to move but Mildred dumped it in a corner and looked at it sadly for a second before she looked at the rest of her things either torn to pieces or broken. She sighed before she began the long laborious task of sorting through the mess, seeing what was destroyed and needed to be chucked out and what was, more or less, salvageable. It took Mildred half an hour to get all of her art materials and art works together, but out of all the pencils, erasers and sharpeners and pens she had brought along with the watercolour paints and brushes, only a few were intact. It was such a shame since she had had the set for a long time.

Her sketching pad had been destroyed as well, so Mildred piled everything onto what was left and walked over and dumped the whole lot unceremoniously onto the wrecked bed frame, making pieces of paper, pencil shavings and destroyed brushes fly everywhere. As she was sorting through what was left of the wardrobe, Mildred had another heartbreak.

"Oh no, not you as well, Puss," she whispered as she fished out the remains of the teddy bear she had owned since she'd been a kid. The bear's golden fur was blackened and there was nothing left of the chest, though there were pieces of the paws and legs. Mildred cuddled what was left of her beloved toy to her chest, tears flowing down her cheeks as she remembered all the good times she'd had holding it when she was younger, all the times it had comforted her in the middle of the night after she'd had a nightmare, how it had been the inspiration behind her attempt to run away after that mess when she'd accidentally turned Ethel Hallow into a pig.

But Mr Rowan-Webb had talked her out of it. He had told her there would always be a little voice in her head afterwards if she did leave Cackles, saying "What if?"

Now Mildred wished she hadn't listened to him, if she had done that then maybe she would still have her toy and everything else intact. She had been overwhelmed, so overwhelmed and so tired of being picked on by arrogant teachers like Gullet and Hardbroom, Cackle turning a blind eye, and Ethel Hallow jeering every six minutes. But on top of that, she had been so frustrated by Enid and Maud not being able to get over their stupid petty fight over her, well they can have each other now. Mildred looked down at the head of her toy, and she bit her tongue as the sadness welled up inside of her; she had long since wanted to give Puss to her own children if she ever had them to pass on a good thing to another generation and let them be happy. Now it was impossible; sure magic could repair the teddy bear, but it wouldn't be the same and besides she didn't want it to be repaired since it would not be worth it.

Looking down at the toy bear's head in her hands, Mildred suddenly lost it. It began as a slow burning anger that quickly turned into a white hot fury, no, not fury. Rage.

In an act totally unlike her Mildred screamed as she grabbed the sides of the wardrobe and smashed what was left of it onto the floor. It was on its last legs anyway, so it broke up all over the floor. Mildred kicked what was left to try to get rid of what was left of her frustration and anger, but it was hopeless. She looked down at what was left of the wardrobe and what was left of the bed frame and she decided she didn't care about the wreckage, and she definitely didn't care if she had made enough noise to bring everyone nearby running to see what was going on.

Mildred suddenly felt the anger leave her and she was left exhausted. She sat back down on the bed, ignoring the paint on the walls and just groaned as she felt a headache come on. She was about to stand up again and get ready for bed when she heard the familiar unwelcome sounds of a transportation spell in her room.

"Mildred, I just wanted to offer you - what happened here?" Miss Cackle broke off as she looked around the wrecked bedroom, her eyes widening in horror as she took in the devastation.

Mildred refused to look up at Miss Cackle.

"Mildred, what happened?" The old witch tried to go over to sit down on the mattress and give the girl some comfort, but Mildred spotted the move and she leapt back, only just avoiding stepping on Tabby.

"Don't touch me," she snapped. "All of this is because of you!"

Miss Cackle felt her heart break as she took in the growing anger of the young girl's face. She had never seen Mildred Hubble so angry, so hurt before.

"You didn't even bother to look for that stupid globe," Mildred went on, "as soon as you heard my name, you put 2 and 2 together and somehow got 7 and I'm suddenly a thief and instantly guilty, all because of that!" She finished with a shout at the "NON-WITCH" scrawl on the wall.

Ada bit her lip, remembering all the nasty things she and the other teachers had said to Mildred in the last 24 hours, and she was willing to bet that the girl remembered what she had said to her in the Great Hall as well.

"Mildred," she said, raising her hand, "I can at least make things right-"

Mildred recognised the gesture the headmistress made and she was on the alert. "What are you going to do, haven't you done enough damage?" she asked.

"I can repair the damage to your room," Ada said, wincing as the question went through her mind and wouldn't leave because Mildred was right, she had done a lot of damage, "I want to make up for what's happened."

"You can't," Mildred sneered, "you can't make up for the ways my day has been a living hell with your teachers using their classes as an excuse to bully me and encourage my so called friends to do the same, spending the periods calling me a freak, a non-witch and making comments about my mum. You can't make up for that trial where everyone used it as an excuse to make every little thing I'd done sound like the crime of the century. And you definitely can't make up for the fact someone nearly killed my cat!" Mildred's voice, already echoing around the room had been steadily growing louder and louder with each word until she screamed the last word.

"What?" Ada looked down at the tabby cat lying on the bed, using her magic to scan him and she found the residual magic of a bone breaking curse and some healing magic, which meant Mildred must have gone to the nurse for help. She couldn't believe the sadism that had gone into that injury, the way her students had forgotten the Witches code concerning familiars.

"Tabby's back leg was at an odd angle, he was in agony when I found him," Mildred said softly, going over to stroke the cat. "Get out."

As far as Mildred was concerned the impromptu interview was over.

Ada stood there, stunned. "Mildred," she tried to say, hoping that she could speak to the girl whom she had grown so fond of and had mistakenly caused so much pain and grief towards today. But she knew Mildred would probably not want it. She had no idea how right she was. Mildred looked up at her.

"Get out," she repeated. "I don't want to speak to you, listen to you, see your smile and have to listen to your lies!" She hissed the last words.

"Mildred, I have never lied to you," Ada tried to stop the rising anger in her own voice since she knew it would only make things worse.

Mildred's anger faded leaving behind a solemn, sad expression on her face that made Ada's heart ache. For a moment the old witch thought that perhaps she was getting through to her. But what Mildred said next told her that it would be a cold day in Avalon before that happened.

"I looked up to you. I respected you, I trusted you," Mildred said so softly that Ada had to strain to hear it, "I almost died falling from the sky on a broomstick because your insane sister had gotten the drop on you and planned to make this school look bad in front of the Great Wizard, and it didn't matter to her if I died. I have just had to listen to you say to everyone you should have listened to Miss Hardbroom about not letting me into this school in the first place when you have been trying to tell me that you are happy that I'm here when its clear your sneering at me behind my back, thinking I'm a non-witch like everybody else."

Mildred looked down at her hands. "Please, just go. Leave me alone."

Ada looked down at the girl sadly before she silently departed, realising that Mildred was not going to listen to her.

After she'd gone, Mildred looked around the bedroom. She would deal with the pile in the morning, right now she had to get ready for bed and hope everyone else realised she didn't want to be bothered. She hurried out to brush her teeth before coming back and untied her hair before getting ready to get under the covers when Miss Hardbroom appeared.

Mildred yelped in surprise, and glared at the potions mistress. "What do you want? You have the worst timing there is."

"I won't be spoken to like that. What did you say to Miss Cackle, Mildred. She is very upset."

While a part of her felt slightly guilty for upsetting Miss Cackle, Mildred didn't really care after what had happened to her today. But she didn't get a chance to reply because Miss Hardbroom had finally noticed the devastation in the bedroom. "What happened here?"

"Exactly what it looks like," Mildred grumbled, her tiredness making her careless. "And someone nearly killed my cat. Don't bother repairing the room, I want it to look like this as a reminder that I shouldn't trust anyone in this school, and you have done more than enough already. Now please go away, I want to get to bed and end today once and for all."

Miss Hardbroom didn't move, she didn't cast a spell, she just stood in the room looking wide eyed at the destruction the student body had caused to someone who was supposed to be one of their own, but then she took one look at the paint scrawled on the walls and she realised just how far the prejudice towards Mildred went; she herself believed that Mildred was a witch, she just didn't belong in Cackles.

Unfortunately, she was standing there looking at the graffiti on the wall like an idiot for too long, and Mildred gradually lost any patience. "Miss Hardbroom, are you just going to stand there, I would really like to get some sleep?" she asked.

Hecate looked down at the girl sadly for a moment. While the teacher was annoyed with how Mildred had spoken to Ada, she only needed to look around the wrecked bedroom to see that they were in the wrong. She transported out of the bedroom and let Mildred have her peace, leaving behind a girl who was flummoxed by the encounter before she shrugged her shoulders.

* * *

I know that some of the reactions to the theft of the star globe might seem extreme, but there is a reason for it which will become known in future chapters. Anyway, please enjoy the story


	2. Chapter 2 Goody! I'm in a competition

Hi, I'm so amazed and happy by the way people love this story, and I hope you enjoy this latest chapter. Please leave feedback but most of all enjoy it.

Goody! I'm in a competition I want nothing to do with.

"They did WHAT?!"

Mildred winced at the loudness of her mother's voice, hoping no one had heard, though she couldn't blame her in the slightest for being angry. She felt the same way. After spending a terrible night's sleep on what remained of her bed, Mildred had woken up as early as she could have done, gotten dressed and made her way to the Mirror room and called her mother. She had no intention of not telling her mother what had happened to her; it was one thing to downplay the attitudes of some of the girls, but physical attacks and someone trashing her bedroom, and nearly killing her cat was something completely different. Mildred had known from the off that her mother had….reservations about her coming to Cackles in the first place, and she knew that this would be the tipping point for her. The longer she'd spoken, the more she had noticed the anger in her mother's face.

"They isolated me, told everyone in the castle that I was a thief after stealing Felicity's star globe when it had actually fallen into the drawer in her desk, and they cursed me in the corridors, called me names. When the trial came, all they did was try to dress every answer I gave them into proving I was guilty," Mildred said knowing that she'd already recited this part.

Julie closed her eyes and shook her head. She'd woken up expecting another long slog at work, what she hadn't expected was an early morning call from her daughter, telling her that she had been accused of theft that instantly meant she was guilty and would be expelled with her magic locked away or something like that.

"And Maud and Enid joined the crowd as well?" she said, knowing that was what had happened but wanted to simply wanted to clarify in her mind what had happened.

Mildred nodded, her jaw clenching at the mention of her ex best friends. "Yeah," she whispered. "I just don't get it. Those two have been with me all this time, and they've been accused of things not so serious, or just as bad, as theft, and yesterday they were at my throat."

"If you're hoping I have a good explanation for it Millie, then you're going to be disappointed. I don't know enough about magic or why these star globes are so important to give you any ideas," Julie said.

"Felicity did say they were made by Merlin himself, but I found very little in the library about it; I've got the feeling it's something that's spoken about and not written about, like so many other things," Mildred finished in frustration. "I just walked out of the hall. I didn't want to speak to anyone, especially after what had happened in my bedroom with Tabby and my things."

Yes, what kind of person would enjoy inflicting pain on an innocent cat? Julie wished she knew. When she'd woken up earlier and found Mildred trying to mirror call her, she had known something serious had just happened to her daughter, but she hadn't expected an injured cat to be included in this miserable story.

Julie looked at her daughter closely, seeing the look of hurt written all over her face. This had truly distressed her. It was bad enough she had been accused of theft without a proper search of this Felicity girl's room, but to have to spend an entire day being victimised in the classrooms by everyone including the teachers, and then having to go through a trial of all things. What kind of justice was there, she thought to herself after hearing what her daughter had gone through, in having every single thing you had done wrong made to sound like the worst crimes in history?

"I still can't believe they expect you to forgive them, or hope you'll forgive them when Felicity brought the globe into the hall, after everything you'd gone through," Julie commented. Did they really think it would be that simple? Yeah, she and Mildred could forgive most things easily enough, but they had their limits, and it looked like Mildred had reached her limits.

"I can't either. I hadn't expected her to bring the globe into the hall, I'd stopped caring by that point," Mildred admitted to her mother. "I was beginning to wish they'd just finish up and give me a chance to grab my things and then come home. I'd just about had it by that point."

Julie's heart went to her daughter. She had worked hard to get through the prejudice, and she'd confided more than once that when time went on and people became more used to her, then perhaps it wouldn't be so bad, now it looked like her daughter had truly given up, stopped caring about her greatest dream. Becoming a witch. The fact Mildred would be pushed that far…..

But there was just one question on her mind at that point she wanted Mildred to answer if she could.

"What do you have in mind?" she asked.

Mildred frowned. "What do you mean?"

"About Cackles. What do you want to do now?" Julie asked affectionately at her daughter's cluelessness.

Mildred sighed. "I want to leave," she admitted. "Yesterday I was one step away from being lynched. Seeing my cat and my favourite toy being injured and burnt and ripped apart was enough to put me off the place. But sitting in the Great Hall, listening to them go on and on about how I shouldn't have been brought into the school in the first place and given a trial, I realised I had no place here. It's sad, because I've worked hard to try to stay in here even though no one gives me anything but scraps to get through the days. I don't know, but I refuse to stay in a school where girls who think someone's guilty see it as justification to harm them or even kill their cats. I don't care if I get expelled anymore. In fact, I'm risking expulsion speaking to you when I'm not allowed."

The shrug told Julie that Mildred didn't care about that anymore, and if she were honest neither did she. She had had issues with Cackles for a long time now because she honestly didn't think they knew how to teach a girl like Mildred. They seemed to think that by putting her into classrooms and expecting her to know about magic would teach her how to become a witch, and when they did they had the nerve to punish her. That wasn't teaching, not in her mind.

"I'm just sad that you've allowed me to come here, to pay for an education that doesn't look like it's worth it," Mildred went on.

Julie was angry, not with her daughter for saying that, but for everyone else that lived and worked in that bloody school that had brought her to this level, but what upset her the most was the fact that her daughter was saying sorry to her for something she wasn't even responsible for.

"Mildred, it's not your fault," she said sweetly. "Do you even know why I let you go to Cackles in the first place instead of just saying no, which I'm beginning to regret right now?"

"Well, I, uh, I thought you let me come here because I'd asked you."

"No, well yeah. You had your heart set on it, but there's something else. All your life, there little….things, that happened around you. One time when you were two so you wouldn't really remember it unless its a blur, you were trying to reach some cookies on the counter in the kitchen, but they were too high up and I was busy with the cleaning in the sitting room. The next thing I know was when I turned back to you, I thought I saw one of the biscuits float down into your hand. I thought I was seeing things, but now I think you were using your magic."

Mildred had been silent as she listened to her mother's confession. She had never imagined her powers appearing at such a young age, she had always thought she had found out about magic at her current age of 11. "Is that why you let me come here, to learn about magic?" Mildred asked.

Julie nodded. "I thought it would do some good for you to control your powers," she confessed. "I never told you because those little things were few and far between, and besides they were just small little coincidences. I'll tell you about them when we've got time."

Despite being a bit peeved at how her mother had known about her magic, or known something was going on without telling her after all this time, Mildred had to look at things from her perspective even though she knew there was not really a lot of time - she would have to leave soon, HB could be patrolling the corridors by now - but she wasn't angry with her mum - how could she know about magic before Cackles anyway?

* * *

After a quick breakfast before the early morning rush, Mildred found herself in her first period of the day. Potions. Oh goody, but this time there was supposed to be an announcement - Mildred wasn't in the mood for anymore bombshells. She entered the classroom silently, hearing the sounds of the other girls heading for their own lessons, cursing the fact Hardbroom had made sure every girl remained in the same seat and workstation for the rest of their time in Cackles. It meant she would be close to Maud and Enid, but since Mildred honestly had no intention of doing well in the end of term exams and just leave at the end of the year she felt she could weather it out.

Mildred ignored the other girls as they came in, noting the surprise on the faces of Maud and Enid since she had arrived before they had. It annoyed her they believed that she would always be late, but she guessed they had good reason to have that opinion, so she didn't plan on saying a word. The other girls were talking about why the meeting had been called, ignoring Maud's little run in with Miss Hardbroom at the same time; it sounded like Maud and the other girls nearby had been debating what this whole thing was about, but truthfully Mildred didn't really care.

There were announcements at the school practically every day, and it usually resulted in a crisis of sorts, and Mildred was not in the mood for them anymore. Agatha Cackle could walk into the room and she wouldn't care, besides she was Ada Cackle's sister, surely the woman could handle her deranged twin for once? But thankfully the woman had lost her powers, taken away because of her first takeover, but that hadn't stopped her second try. Mildred grimaced as she remembered the way the Great Wizard had looked at her the first time they'd met and the reaction he'd had when he'd found out she was from a non-magical family. It was at times like that she wondered if learning magic was even worthwhile.

"As some of you will have heard, Miss Cackle has some news she would like to share," Miss Hardbroom was saying, and despite her own personal feelings towards the potions mistress Mildred knew better than to ignore what she was saying, "with us all. Is everyone here? Excellent."

Miss Cackle came into the room with her usual smile, followed by Mr Rowan-Webb, but Mildred just gave them a look of pure and utter apathy when they tried to meet her eyes for a second, but they quickly got to the point about why they were here - she didn't care what Cackle planned to say to everyone. The headmistress talked about some competition with a rival school where they practiced spells, and since Cackles was at the top of the finals the competing school was arriving the next day.

The other school was called Pentangle, but why that was so important Mildred didn't know and didn't give it that much thought, though she was nonetheless curious about this new school and wondered how it differed from Cackles. Probably not a lot, she thought to herself bitterly, reflecting on her many experiences here, but she hoped that there was one school of magic where you weren't bullied or victimised just because you failed to properly cast a spell, or knew how to make a potion, but Mildred doubted it; her time at Cackles had coloured her ideas about magic and how things were for witches and wizards.

Miss Hardbroom seemed to freeze. "Miss Pentangle?" she said in a shaking voice. Mildred raised a brow, wondering why that was a problem, but she guessed that this Miss Pentangle and Miss Hardbroom had history, and perhaps not all of it was good. She shrugged indifferently. It meant nothing to her, and besides she was unlikely to be one of those 'lucky witches' anyway, what with her record and all.

Miss Cackle's "That's right," brought Mildred back to the present, but while she was itching to ask who Miss Pentangle was and why it all such a big deal she decided to keep her mouth quiet. Miss Pentangle was probably the headmistress of the school that was coming, but as long as she kept her head down and out of sight it shouldn't be an issue for her.

"Oh, I wanted to go to her school," Felicity gushed happily, "I begged my mother to send me to her school."

Mildred wanted to ask why she hadn't bothered, but she didn't turn around. Instead Drusilla asked the question. "Why didn't you go?" she asked curiously.

"Because it's coed."

"What does that mean?" Drusilla asked, confused; personally Mildred thought the expression suited the other girl, her customary frown made her look like a thug. At least when she was confused, she looked more human and had some emotion.

"Boys," Felicity and some of the other girls said at the same time, putting on a wistful tone. Mildred wondered if it was witch tradition to make sure witches were taught by other witches and wizards were taught by other wizards, and the two should never meet. It was the same with schools in the non-magical world, but for Mildred, who'd been to school with boys and girls it made no difference one way or another.

Miss Cackle broke up the discussion and the attention in the room turned to her, some of the girls noticed the look on Miss Hardbroom's face - it did not bode well, so the idea Mildred had about the history between her and this Miss Pentangle gained more credibility. "As the rules dictate we will continue to work through the alphabet. Our official adjudicator, Mr Rowan-Webb, has been charged with selecting this years team."

"Last year's victory by Harriet Goodcharm and Peggy -ribbit - Gribble brings us to H-" Mr Rowan-Webb said, but Mildred had already tuned out of the whole thing, but she was aware that Ethel Hallow had been chosen. Big surprise there.

Mildred didn't care, and besides it couldn't involve her…

And then her heart chilled when she realised something. Oh no, she thought to herself when she realised she was the only other girl in the classroom whose surname began with the letter H. Please, she begged mentally all the while cursing the fact her name didn't begin with a different letter, like W, hoping her eyes were pleading enough for Mr Rowan-Webb to notice, please don't say my name. Surely me helping you get out of that bloody pond and telling the other teachers about you before Miss Gullet could use you for that experiment of hers counts for something, right? Surely you have some sense not to involve me after that mess yesterday? I'm not ready for something like this, sure you can see that, come on you're supposed to be a wizard, aren't you supposed to be wise?

"Swiftly followed by Mildred Hubble."

Silence descended into the room, and Mildred knew without even looking that Ethel was not happy about the prospect of them be partners. But she wasn't paying that much attention to the arrogant blond's mood, she was too busy looking at Mr Rowan-Webb, wondering if she was being obvious with her resentment. Not that she cared.

You **bastard**! I'm never sticking my neck out for you ever again! In future, if I meet a talking frog, I'll just hop away and be done with it! Mildred shook her head. "Maybe someone else could do it?" she asked hopefully, but she knew deep inside it was hopeless.

Miss Cackle didn't look put out by the suggestion, though she did look a bit nervous. "That isn't allowed, I'm afraid," she said with finality. "Witching traditions always prevail."

Mildred closed her eyes for a second as she tried to control her temper. No kidding, she thought bitterly, recalling all the many battles she'd had in this school because of witching traditions. She'd been at Cackles long enough to know when it was hopeless, there were just some things that you could not overcome, and witching traditions was one of them. Great, she thought to herself, I knew things would go from bad to worse. I just didn't know it would be this quick. But by looking at Miss Hardbroom and Ethel's faces, she was sure they love nothing more than to flout magical traditions and make sure that she didn't take part. Oh well, every cloud had a silver lining.

* * *

Mildred sometimes wondered if Ethel Hallow even knew what a life was. Not only did the girl drag her and nearly every other first year to one of the halls with a trophy cabinet dominated by a massive glass trophy that was magnificent if Mildred was honest with it looking like it had been made by hundreds of sculpted diamonds into the shape of a large trophy, but Ethel had told everyone she had dreamt of holding and winning the same trophy since she was old enough to walk, or something like that - Mildred had barely taken any notice, she had been focused more on the trophy, but unlike the other girls she was thinking about what could happen if she caused Cackles to lose the damn thing. It could be the very thing that could warrant expulsion.

Great.

She'd been wondering for a few hours about how she could get out of the school so she didn't have to rely on the end of term exams for her to be kicked out, and it looks like she had just found what she'd been searching for.

But she had been angry when Ethel had threatened her, told her to her face that if they lost the trophy to Pentangles then she (Ethel) would never forgive her (Mildred), but she'd retaliated.

"Ethel, why are you so worried? You know Cackle and Hardbroom aren't going to let me take part anyway, and anyway what else is new? You've never forgiven me all year, what's one more thing to add? You know what, Ethel, I don't give a toss what you think - I only hope that when you've achieved everything you think you should have - accolades, recognition, getting above your sister and showing up your family, though you can do a lot more by yourself and not relying on them in the first place is beyond me since you're more than intelligent enough to do it anyway, all that stuff - you don't look back on moments like this, and wish you'd done or said something completely different."

Walking away from a surprised band of witches, Mildred had headed away to the library to study up as best she could, but she was shaking with anger. Why, why was it she couldn't go one day, just one day, without Ethel Hallow threatening her? Why couldn't the blond simply leave her alone and get a life?

This feud as Miss Cackle and Miss Hardbroom called it, was one sided - Mildred didn't care what the blond's problem was, she knew Ethel was lurking in the shadow of her elder sister, jealous at the attention Esmerelda received but that was not an excuse for her to use others as emotional and mental punching bags. Ethel probably thought she didn't know about that, or she was so one dimensional it was pathetic, but Mildred did know that she was an immature bitch with mummy, daddy and sister issues. A simple puzzle she'd solved on day one. But then again the blond had left behind dozens of clues anyone would be stupid not to listen. Mildred wasn't responsible for the mistakes of the Hallow family, so why was she constantly being picked on all the time? It was childish and petty. Look at the time she'd put that stupid wart on her face, everyone had believed she had something big when all she had was an ugly growth on her chin. How pathetic and wanting could you get? Mildred shook her head. Surprise, surprise, the wart was a fake.

Mildred knew she couldn't use magic, but she could use words. Anything to get Ethel Hallow off her back was a bonus. After calming down, she walked further away, hoping to get to the library so she could study up for this stupid contest; she knew the chances of her participation were slim, but while she was rubbish at spells she felt that even if she couldn't properly practice then she might as well make some effort. Why she was bothering she had no idea.

Miss Hardbroom's cool voice spoke from behind her - why the woman couldn't appear in front of her, Mildred had no idea - and she didn't sound impressed. It didn't surprise Mildred.

"Where do you think you are going, Mildred Hubble?"

Mildred turned to face the potions mistress. "I was heading up to the library, Miss Hardbroom. I need to study for the competition," she replied in the hopes of sounding innocent. The icy look on HB's chiselled face told her it wasn't working, but then when had it ever worked? "While I am delighted you are taking this competition seriously, you shall be preparing with Ethel, in spite of the harsh manner you spoke to her just now."

Mildred rubbed her eyes, wishing that she could muster the bravery needed to tell the woman what she could do with the competition. "You heard it, then? I'm surprised you didn't appear and put a stop to it. It doesn't matter," she went on, "now Ethel knows I will fight back if she continues making those stupid threats that in the long run won't make a difference. I'm right, Miss Hardbroom, one day Ethel Hallow will grow old, be miserable, and look back on her life and wish she had done things differently. Why should I continue to take the abuse?"

"Mildred, that is no way to speak about the girl you will be working with," Miss Hardbroom said dangerously. She knew she and the rest of the school had made a mistake with Mildred yesterday, but the girl was making it difficult for everyone to cope.

"No, I won't be working with her. You and Ethel will make sure of that," Mildred replied; it was dangerous to speak back to Miss Hardbroom, but she was beyond caring. "It won't matter how hard I work, how hard I try, you will find a loophole to make sure I don't utter a syllable during this contest. Right, now I'm heading to the library-"

Miss Hardbroom had been growing angrier and angrier with each word, but she couldn't refute what Mildred was saying because it was true enough. She didn't want Cackles to lose, especially not to Pippa Pentangle. The memory of their break up was still fresh in Hecate's mind and she didn't want everything she had worked long and hard for for years being torn down because this girl was too stupid.

"No, you are not," Miss Hardbroom hissed.

* * *

Miss Drill's whistle blew again, making Mildred wince at the loud sound that tore through her ear canal like a hospital surgeon making a precision cut with a scalpel. Why was it necessary for her to blow that hard? Couldn't she find a better means to motivate her torture victim? Her back was killing her, and she felt like she was going to collapse on her stomach at any moment. Of all the stupid things Hardbroom in all her infinite wisdom had decided to inflict, why did push ups have to be one of them? Other exercises she could cope with, so why push ups? Were they expected to get into a push up contest with Pentangles as well? Terrific. If this was a Hardbroom's attempt to make her regret what she'd said to Ethel, she was in for a long wait. Mildred didn't care anymore about Ethel Hallow, in fact she was done with the whole family, and she hadn't even met the others - seeing Mrs Hallow didn't count. Mildred was struggling with the pushups, dancing with her mother against that computer back home - oh, home - what a lovely word - was one thing, but this was different and more painful. She preferred full body exercises, preferably when she was standing up. Mildred might be struggling with the exercise, but she was betting prissy perfect Ethel Hallow was doing it well, as usual. Miss Drill blew that whistle again and Mildred wondered how the woman would feel if it was shoved down her throat. She swallowed the impulse to leap at the teacher and do just that, but Miss Drill had no idea how close she was getting to being assaulted.

In the end she collapsed, cursing her upper body's lack of physical strength. Mildred blearily saw the unwelcome silhouette of Miss Hardbroom standing over her, blocking the sun. "This is no time to rest, Mildred Hubble," Hardbroom hissed down at her, just as Mildred sat up feeling her cheeks were burning red from exertion, but out of the corner of her eye she saw Ethel smugly sit up breathlessly, rolling her eyes down at her. Bitch. "Potions lab," Hardbroom said maliciously, knowing that she hated potions. "This instant."

Mildred sat up, grinding her teeth angrily, glaring at her teacher. For a second Miss Hardbroom was surprised by the look of burning loathing in Mildred's eyes, but she pushed it aside. The contest and the honour of Cackles was more important, besides she could speak to Mildred about it later. She flicked her fingers and the three of them entered the vortex of magical transportation and into the potions lab.

* * *

Mildred walked back to her room, grateful for the chance to have a break. She was too tired to head to the library like she'd originally planned before HB descended. For her and Ethel the entire world now seemed to revolve around this stupid competition and she imagined it would happen tomorrow again as well. Mildred walked into her bedroom, not bothering with dinner - she was too tired and fed up to care about food. All she wanted to do was sit on her bed, read a spell book, and just wish the whole thing was over.

Tabby meowed at her, and she smiled at her cat and petted him, scratching his head while his back curved to give her more spots to pay attention to. She stroked him gently, checking to see if his injury was still painful.

"I will get through this one, right Tabs?" Mildred whispered, and with that question came the outpouring. "Sometimes I wish Maud hadn't crashed onto my balcony, I'd have gone to a normal secondary school, but while I'd make a botch up with some of the subjects I know I wouldn't constantly fail at them. But here no one bothers to give me a chance, and now Enid and Maud have shown their true colours. I don't trust them anymore. But more importantly, I would never have met you, and I can't have that can I? I love you too much."

That was the most painful and hurtful thing about this whole mess, she reflected.

Mildred was beginning to think she and her mother had been conned.

It was obvious to her now the trial Miss Cackle had put her on in thanks for stopping Agatha all those months ago wasn't meant to work, and she wondered if it was Witching tradition to cause as much pain as possible to 11 year olds, but since Enid, Maud, Felicity and Drusilla had grown up in this world and knew what was expected of them Mildred doubted it, and a hot burning anger swept through her at just how unfair these people were.

Mildred picked up her cat and cuddled him to her chest.

Deciding that she was too tired to study for tonight, Mildred got up and put on her Academy issue nightshirt - she hated the ill-fitting thing with a passion, and she wished the school would let her wear her own clothes, what was next, Academy issue underwear? - and snuggled under the covers and rested her head on the pillow with a sigh. It was too early for her to go to sleep, so Mildred grabbed one of her spell books and started reading through it - the book's contents might not be the type of spells what would be featured in the Spelling Bee competition, but it was a start - and she sat up for another hour, which wasn't easy considering the state of her bed.

* * *

Ada Cackle was working late in her office, going over the paperwork strewn over her desk when Hecate arrived in her office. Ada looked up at her briefly before glancing back down at her paperwork, knowing from long experience over the years that Hecate wouldn't take it seriously and besides she would begin speaking in a moment, but she wanted to push the upcoming conversation in the direction she wanted it to go.

"How are our new bees?" she asked. Whenever the Spelling Bee came to Cackles, Ada always left the basic teaching to her teachers while she personally thought through the types of spells or potions she would pick at random to put to the bees. The personal library behind her on the upper storey was a benefit in that regard, the books on those shelves had been collected by numerous past headmistresses over the years and they offered her plenty of inspiration, but she didn't choose the spells beforehand. No, she preferred to make up her mind at the last minute after seeing the level of the competing students.

Ada was looking forwards for her school to go up against Pentangles. The school was relatively new to the teaching block, but Ada knew that the headmistress of the school had brought in subjects that were unusual for a conventional and traditional magical school. They had the traditional subjects - spells, potions, chanting - but they had the basics and theories of those lessons as well, to help the students develop their skills and learn techniques their families didn't teach them. The whole of magical education was based on the students learning the real realities of magic, and it was traditional anyway for young witches and wizards to learn from their parents and other family members, because once upon a time that was how magic was taught.

But Pentangles's unconventional lessons interested Ada; enchanting, and runic magic, alchemy and magical duelling were subjects that weren't really taught at Cackles or most other schools, so they would be a challenge. Pentangles had a very good reputation, and Ada had read the school's prospectus, and was impressed by how Pippa Pentangle had developed her school, and introduced subjects most schools didn't teach at such a basic level that most witches and wizards believed should be taught when students should be around 17 years old.

"Ethel Hallow is definitely performing well. I believe she will help us win the competition in this round," Hecate announced as though she had just discovered the potion to cure all illnesses, even old age. "Mildred Hubble, on the other hand…."

Ada sighed. Like everybody else Hecate was entitled to her opinions, but sometimes the way she spoke about Mildred often made people misinterpret the manner of her speech as hateful, but truthfully Ada knew Hecate didn't hate the girl. The problem was Mildred, being witch from a non-magical family, was under a lot of pressure to excel, but the girl didn't know the best sources of information she should be seeking in order to learn. Traditionally, witches didn't beg for help, they learnt and helped themselves. Of course, parents would step in to help, give advice and they had let them get on with it, but Ada knew she should have taken the girl under her wing at some point, in fact she had had it in mind, but after what had just happened Ada knew that Mildred would never trust her ever again.

Hecate didn't hate Mildred, in fact Ada knew the pair of them were both alike in some areas.

"What's happened?" Ada asked as she wondered if she should tell her deputy what she'd heard only this morning.

Hecate sat down opposite Ada. "I found Ethel and Mildred, along with the rest of the first years clustered around the trophy cabinet. I admit that Ethel warned Mildred if they lost the competition, then she'd never forgive her. Mildred retaliated by saying you and I would make sure she didn't take part in the competition. She also told Ethel grew older and gained the recognition she'd sought all her life, that she shouldn't hope to look back at moments like that and wish she'd said something different."

Ada nodded thoughtfully, not saying a word. She sometimes wondered what Ethel would be like in the future. She liked to think the girl would mature, grow up, and become a totally different witch than she was today. The biggest concern she had for the current younger Hallow sister, knowing that a Sybil Hallow was going to attend Cackles next year, was her envy for her elder sister and her seeming inability to behave like an adult. Ada had seen this before with her sister Agatha. Ada didn't want the Hallow family to go through what she had - it had broken her mother's heart to send Agatha off to Wormwoods Academy. It was a black mark against her. The Cackle's family had prided themselves always by sending their daughters, nieces, granddaughters to Cackles Academy, for one to be carted off to the school where the bad witches ended up…..

"Mildred might have a point there," she commented quietly, looking down at the palm of her right hand. "Most people who started out as immature end up regretting it later on in their lifetimes."

"You agree with what Mildred said?"

"To a degree. I also take Mildred's words to be an omen for Ethel. I only hope Ethel grows out of the stage she's at now, because it could turn out bad for the girl. What else happened with Mildred?" she asked, hoping that Hecate didn't start off on a rant.

"I caught her before she headed to the library to study, but while her taking the competition seriously is commendable, no-one who enters the Spelling Bee knows the kind of tasks that will be, and there's also what the girl said to me. I didn't include this in the last statement about Ethel, but to my face, she said Ethel would grow old, be miserable, and look back on her life and regret it."

"Mildred said that?" Ada whispered in stunned disbelief. Had Mildred become so hateful towards them, she was beginning to lash out? If she was then they might have to work hard with her to help her forgive them for that disaster yesterday.

"Yes. I was taken aback by the remark, but what angered me the most was the way she stated we were going to make sure - myself and Ethel - she didn't take part in the competition."

"Well, she's right. The Spelling Bee competition is something that tests magical knowledge, and while Mildred is a bright young girl she doesn't have much knowledge about spells and potions, and for that you and I are to blame - instead of telling Mildred that a true witch finds answers for herself, we should have parted with that part of our tradition and given her some help. Mildred is not like girls like Esmerelda or Ethel Hallow, Maud Spellbody - she doesn't understand our ways, but she can learn. And before you say anything, Hecate, I am aware of the girl's shortcomings. But I have faith she can move on from them and become a great witch. I know blind faith shouldn't exist in magical education, but I am becoming aware of something you have said time and time again; Mildred does not belong in Cackles. Maybe you are right, but she can still be a witch."

Hecate couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Are you saying that we should expel her anyway after you've been trying to make up for the star globe?"

Ada grimaced at the mention of the star globe, the source of this mess. "I'm going to have to add an amendment to the items not to be brought into the school," she commented almost to herself, "star globes are more trouble than they're worth. I felt like a woman possessed when Felicity's went missing. But answering your question, Hecate, no I don't think we should expel her. We might need to just let her go. It's sad, it really is. We have to accept responsibility for what happened even if its easy to blame Felicity Foxglove for bringing that wretched globe into the school, there's nothing we can do."

If Hecate Hardbroom was the kind of witch to give into frustration or weariness, she would have rubbed her face or ran a hand through her hair. "Do you think we should stop Mildred from letting her mother know about what has happened, try to get her trust us again?"

"This isn't a prison Hecate, and besides it's too late. This morning I went to Mildred's room to try to clean up the mess that was left behind after some of the students… took the law into their own hands and injured Tabby. I went to try to make it up to her, but when I arrived the girl was getting ready to leave the room."

Hecate was surprised and yet bemused. "Mildred Hubble actually getting up earlier than the others? That's a first."

Ada ignored the jib. It was that kind of remark that made it hard for the girl to trust them, especially now. "I followed her to the Mirror room. She contacted her mother and told her what had happened. Mildred already plans to deliberately foul up her end of year exams, but she is on the lookout for a way to be kicked out beforehand."

Hecate was amazed by Mildred's ability to plan ahead and look for opportunities. But Ada had something else to add, something that was truly heartbreaking for the older witch. "Mildred informed Julie Hubble she had felt isolated and alone, that as the trial," she grimaced at the farce that had played out in the Great Hall only a day before, "went on, she was just preparing to leave. She had had enough."

Hecate nodded as she tried to picture herself in Mildred's place - she would never have even touched a star globe unless it was something owned by her own family - and she realised that if the entire school was turned against her, everyone who had called themselves her friend had turned on her, then she too would see no reason to stay there.

After seeing the realisation on Hecate's face, Ada hated to add the next bit. It had been heartbreaking to her, but it would probably hurt Hecate to hear it from her rather than Mildred. She decided not to speak about Julie's stories about Mildred's powers growing up, it wasn't relevant, and besides she had seen evidence of the girl's magic.

"Mildred then said to her mother, she had realised that she had no place in Cackles."

Hecate closed her eyes and sighed. She had herself claimed more than a dozen times already that Mildred shouldn't be at Cackles, but it wasn't because she believed the girl was a non-witch. No, she believed, no she knew the girl WAS a witch, but Cackles just didn't have the facilities to train a girl from a non-magical family. It was just such a shame in her mind because she knew that Mildred was gifted, she was capable of magic, and she had a big heart.

She decided to change the subject. "Ada, do you know who Pip- I mean Miss Pentangle is bringing to the competition?"

Ada almost rolled her eyes, wishing that for all of her strengths Hecate didn't show little nuggets that were so obvious. It was clear Hecate and Pippa Pentangle had been close but had lost touch, but she didn't know the details, but unless it affected her performance she wasn't going to ask what it was all about. "Yes I do, a Zac Hawthorn and a Sapphire Hailstone."

"A boy," Hecate grimaced.

"There's nothing wrong with a school that's coed," Ada chided. "They have existed for decades, you know that, and besides in magical colleges and universities have coed classes. Anyway, I have no doubt with the kind of lessons Miss Pentangle teaches and has to offer at her school Zac may surprise you."

It did occur to her to look at spells that Pentangles students might find easy, but she realised if she did that then both Mildred and Ethel would be way out of their leagues.

* * *

Maud Spellbody walked quickly down the familiar corridor towards Mildred's room with Enid jogging next to her, looking as determined as she herself did. She and Enid had tried all day to speak to their friend, hoping for the girl to forgive her for all the terrible things they had said before and after that mess of a trial yesterday. Maud knew she had gone too far, they both had. Both of them had gone to Mildred's bedroom the night before, but they had arrived just as Miss Cackle, and both girls had listened with shock at the bitterness coming from Mildred as she'd spoken to their headmistress, and they had left quickly when they accepted the fact Mildred was just not in the mood to speak to anyone, though they had decided to try before Miss Hardbroom arrived. Mildred had sounded put out and more than a little tired, so both girls had left rather than try Mildred's temper. They had never seen Mildred angry to that extent before, they'd seen her bad mood before, but never anything like this. They had decided to try their luck in the morning, hoping that Mildred would be in a better mood. But with the Spelling Bee competition announced and Mildred's time being drawn away to that, Maud and Enid had found it hard to grab Mildred.

She hadn't shown up at dinner, whereas Ethel had, but they hadn't bothered to get anything form her, so they had gone to her bedroom.

Maud sighed as they came to Mildred's door. She knocked tentatively, dreading what kind of reaction her friend would have at seeing them, she could just remember the way she had felt when she had spoken to Mildred yesterday and she had seen the heartbroken look in her face. But Maud also remembered the apathetic look on Mildred's face during potions and the way she had looked like she was a second away from murdering Mr Rowan-Webb and Miss Cackle when they'd told her she would be working with Ethel in the Spelling Bee. She really did not want to be involved, and considering the way she had been treated, accused of theft of a star globe, Maud was not surprised.

She caught the hopeful, but worried look on Enid's face - it was strange seeing someone so ordinary boisterous look quiet and worried, and Maud wasn't sure to be worried herself. There was no answer to the knock, so Maud tried again, wondering if Mildred was even in the bedroom. It was the only place in the school where she could even get some privacy away from what she had to put up with on a daily basis, but she could be somewhere else and staying as far from the other witches as possible, and after hearing how someone had nearly killed Tabby, Maud wouldn't be surprised if Mildred refused to speak to anyone again.

Maud decided to take a chance, not even reflecting on the irony - once upon a time she would never have dreamt of entering someone else's bedroom without permission, but she had picked up some habits from Mildred and Enid - and opened the door quietly.

She looked around Mildred's bedroom with horror, and judging from Enid's gasp she wasn't the only one.

The room was a shambles - the desk was practically nonexistent and the wardrobe was smashed to the ground, with threads of colourful fabric that both girls recognised as one of Mildred's outfits was hanging out, but there was a pile of rubbish in the room - pieces of paper that had once been on Mildred's walls, broken pencils and paintbrushes, and what remained of Mildred's drawing pad, clustered nearby was the twisted metal frame of a Cackles' issue bed. It was all lumped into a massive pile, but what really threatened to break their hearts was the graffiti on the walls. "FREAK GO HOME" and "NON-WITCH" scrawled in what looked like Mildred's art supplies.

It was the bed Mildred was sleeping on with an open spell book lying open that broke their hearts. The mattress, or what remained of it, was lying on the ground and Mildred was lying on it. Tabby was sleeping next to his owner, his chest rising and falling gently.

Maud exchanged a look with Enid and shook her head. No, now was not the time. Maud led the other girl to her own bedroom and sat heavily on her own bed.

"How can anyone do such a thing?" Maud whispered.

She knew it was hypocritical because yesterday she would have cheered on anyone who destroyed and trashed Mildred's bedroom though she hoped she would never have been delighted with Tabby's injury, knew that the spells surrounding the star globes had played with their minds, but now the truth was out she felt sick that yesterday she would have seen nothing wrong with what had happened in Mildred's bedroom. Hell, she might even have joined in. What sickened her the most was no-one had spoken out about this, no-one had admitted responsibility for the destruction in the bedroom, and no-one had even apologised to Mildred's face for hurting and nearly killing Tabby. Worse the teachers didn't seem interested in finding out either, and truthfully they had to deal with the Spelling Bee competition.

Enid nodded, clearly not trusting herself to speak about it, but she wasn't afraid to speak about something else on her mind. "I'd be very surprised if Mildred would just want to leave after that."

Maud looked at her with worry. "I wish it hadn't happened, Enid, but it has. I don't want either of you to go, you're my best friends. I don't want to lose you."

"It's not me you should be worrying about," Enid said bluntly, "Mildred is the problem. I think she wants to leave Cackles."

Maud looked up at her in shock and upset, but Enid didn't let her say anything. "Do you know how I was expelled from my….eighth school?" Enid asked, pausing for a second as she worked out which school it was.

Maud still couldn't believe Enid had been to 17 schools already, in fact, she believed the other girl had made it up to sound impressive, but she decided to humour her friend. "No," she said.

"I was getting tired of the place; the teachers were boring, the lessons were dull, and they kept putting me in detention," Enid said, ignoring Maud, who rolled her eyes, "anyway, I became so tired of it, I wanted out, so I cast a firework spell in the potions lab."

"Oh no," Maud shook her head when she began to see where this was leading. "You didn't? Seriously, Enid, you know how dangerous that can be-"

"It wasn't a major potion, but it got me expelled," Enid said, "the point is I wanted out of the school. I know how it feels, and I can tell just by watching Mildred she wants to leave."

Maud looked down at her feet. "I can't believe she'd want to leave."

"You'd better, Maud," Enid was serious, "Mildred has been pushed too many times over the last few months, but she has always fought back. Now she has been pushed too far, she was accused of something she didn't do, you and I said some truly nasty things to her that she probably no longer wants anything to do with us anymore. She was forced into that farce of a trial that on reflection was one of the worst things we could have done, and we enjoyed seeing her cry yesterday. Admit it, Maud, if it was you, don't you think that you'd be better off somewhere else?"

Maud licked her lips, she hadn't considered it like that, but what she hated the most was the fact the star globe's protective magic had brought out a side of her she felt genuinely disgusted of.

* * *

Next chapter is Pippa's arrival.


	3. Chapter 3 The Arrival of Pentangles

You should know the drill by now. I don't own The Worst Witch. Pity, though.

Anyway, feedback is always welcome, and thank you all to the readers who have enjoyed my story so far.

The Arrival of Pentangles.

One of the things Mildred wished she had truly learnt about at Cackles in all of her time at the school was knowing how to greet witches and wizards without looking like a complete fool, it didn't help she had never really bothered to ask one of the older girls, but even then they hadn't been warm. Esmerelda had been okay, but her head girl duties had made it tricky at times to get some time alone with her to answer certain questions.

While she no longer really cared about the honour of the Academy anymore, she did want to make a good impression despite hating the fact the Spelling Bee seemed to have taken over her life.

But now Miss Pentangle and her two students, Zac and Sapphire, were at the school Mildred knew that HB would be pushing both her and Ethel into learning every scrap of magical knowledge she could think of. Mildred wasn't sure what to make of the Pentangles's group, knowing that they hadn't been around during the mess a few days before, so she didn't know what they were like. She had seen football matches between her old school and other schools and it could be that they were as diehard as some of the girls at Cackles were proving to be, so Mildred knew about the competition only too well but what Hardbroom was doing took the cake. The woman seemed to have turned the whole competition into the centre of her life.

Thinking of the way Hardbroom had stiffened at the sound of Miss Pentangle's voice and how the woman had barely looked into Miss Pentangle's narrowed eyes confirmed Mildred's theory the two had a history together. A lot of history, though you'd have to be blind not to see it. Hardbroom and Ethel had both become driven to make sure they won the Spelling Bee, and they were dragging Mildred along for the ride.

Seeing Miss Pentangle in her pink robes and hat had surprised Mildred, who was more used to witches wearing darker colours - Miss Cackle, Miss Bat, and Miss Drill wore colours other than black, but they did wear black cloaks when the occasion called for it, but Miss Pentangle seemed to be ignoring the all mighty tradition witches followed.

While Mildred's indifference to Miss Pentangle's greeting to Ethel was obvious to anyone who'd noticed her rolling her eyes, she had to admit she was interested in Sapphire and Zac, but she wasn't going to take the chance they weren't going to suddenly treat her like so many others had treated her when she'd first stepped foot into Cackles. Oh well, she'd cross that bridge if she came to it, but in the meantime she would not bother them and hoped they wouldn't bother her.

As she walked into the Great Hall, clutching a book to read, she listened to the things her fellow First years were saying about Pentangles - the gold plated broomsticks sounded a bit ludicrous, but the idea of fresh donuts every Sunday filled her with a longing - she hadn't had a donut in months. Mildred saw the inviting looks on Maud, Felicity and Enid's faces, but she ignored them all and went to sit somewhere different away from them, but Miss Drill's voice called out from behind. "Ah, Mildred," the flying teacher said cheerfully as if she hadn't spent 12 minutes during the trial exaggerating all the broomstick disasters and spinning them to make her look like a driver who deliberately tried to run down pedestrians and crash into school buses, "no hot delicious soup for you." Mildred turned around just as she was about to sit down and saw the smiling woman holding a plate with greens on it. "It's brain food from now on," Miss Drill said as she picked up the bowl of soup and placed the plate down on the table, "Dandelions and nettles, freshly picked this morning."

Mildred looked at the plate of greens and shook her head as Drill walked off. "I was looking forwards to that," she whispered to herself, thinking about the soup - it may taste like swill, but it was more normal than what she had to eat now. She'd only just stopped herself from saying it out aloud when Drill was nearby knowing only too well the teacher wouldn't take it. With nothing better to do she grabbed a fork, stabbed a piece of nettle and hoped it had been cooked sufficiently so then the little barbs in the leaf didn't sting, and shoved it into her mouth. Actually, it wasn't that bad, she just doubted it would make any difference - she was convinced the teachers and Ethel would make sure she had nothing to do with the Spelling Bee even if she were involved.

As she ate and read from the book, she was a little surprised when Zac and Sapphire appeared, both holding bowls of soup. "Do you mind if we join you?" Sapphire asked with a winning smile on her face. The smile was what made Mildred make up her mind - a part of her wanted nothing more than to tell the two to go away and leave her in peace, Mildred weighed her options up for a second before she nodded, too busy chewing on a piece of dandelion to reply.

"Thanks," Zac replied and although in Mildred's mind he was just a boy and truly didn't understand why having Zac in the school was such a big thing since she had gone to school with boys in the past, she had to admit he was rather cute. Mentally shaking her head she decided to just observe them. Both of them certainly looked smart in their white shirts with purple waistcoats.

When the two were sitting down there was an awkward silence that Mildred wasn't sure if she could break, it was Zac who broke it. "I hear we've got a tough competition tomorrow," he said.

Why of all the things he had talk about did it have to be the Spelling Bee? Mildred swallowed the bitterness as well as the piece of greenery in her mouth and just nodded, not trusting herself to speak. Now she was beginning to wish she had just told them she wanted to be left alone, but if she'd done that she could have looked like an introvert.

"So I've gathered," she replied dryly, her tone making it clear she didn't want to say another word about the Spelling Bee.

Zac and Sapphire glanced at each other, clearly realising that although she was a contender she didn't seem to care. Good. What she least expected was Sapphire smiling at her gently. "You're Mildred Hubble, aren't you?" she asked much to Mildred's surprise since she and her schoolmate had been introduced to her and Ethel only an hour before. "You're the first witch from a non-witching family here, aren't you?"

Sapphire may have said that out of curiosity, but hearing that question made Mildred angrier than she had been all day. After months of being judged and going through that trial where she had been tormented and driven to her lowest point imaginable, Mildred had developed a sensitive attitude to her heritage. She was tired of people viewing her as inferior because she hadn't grown up with potion fumes being breathed in and out of her lungs.

Her anger must have been visible because Sapphire and Zac instantly raised their hands to placate her. "No, really its okay, its just we heard that Cackles had taken on a girl from a non-witch family for the first time months ago," Sapphire said quickly to calm Mildred down.

"What's it got to do with you?"

"It's just… odd because Cackles was the last school we ever expected to take on students who don't have magical roots," Zac said. "We both have friends who come from the non-magical world."

Mildred snorted, unable to stop herself, but she was getting truly sick and tired of being judged because she didn't know half of the rules in the Witches' code. "I don't believe you," she said bluntly, "when the Great Wizard was here, he was beside himself when he found out-"

"Do you even know why?" Sapphire asked gently, looking at Mildred with a solemnness that shut her up at once, and when Mildred was quiet she went on, "The Great Wizard was surprised because he had never expected a school like Cackles to even accept girls from non-witch families, but in fact you're not the first and I doubt you'll be the last, either. My mum was one of the first girls who'd come from the same background."

Plate of greens forgotten Mildred was trying to ask herself if Sapphire was even telling her the truth, but she couldn't be sure, so she decided to just ignore it for now.

"What's Pentangle's like?" Mildred asked, hoping her tone was enough to convince both of them, she was unwilling to pursue this topic any longer, though while both Zac and Sapphire seemed a little disappointed she wasn't going to say anything more, they decided it was a good idea to go along with it.

"It's amazing!" Sapphire gushed; Mildred couldn't help but smile at her attitude, reminded a little of Felicity, but she got the impression Sapphire was a lot more serious than Felicity. Mildred instantly clamped down on her feelings - she had more or less forgiven the other first years despite her hurt about the things they had said to her, but she would never forgive them for believing that she would take somebody's property.

"It really is," Zac who seemed a little more controlled said, but there was a gleam in his eye that told Mildred he agreed with what Sapphire had just said, "Miss Pentangle went to a lot of trouble to make sure the school was staffed by brilliant teachers, but we learn a lot more at Pentangles than most other schools provide."

Mildred frowned in interest. "What do you mean?"

"Pentangles doesn't just teach the ordinary magical subjects," Sapphire explained this time, "we learn the basics of spells and potions; many magical families teach their children the basics of potion making and spell casting, but they can only teach them so much, and they're usually things that have been known in the family for generations and have been developed over the years, but at Pentangles students learn a few other techniques and hints about potions work, and we work with more rarer and sometimes more dangerous ingredients that only the richer families have access to."

One of the things that Mildred hated about her magical education was that all the girls knew more than she did and no one was at the same level, but she knew it was a bit stupid of her to have that attitude. It was their culture and way of life, but some time ago when she had been closer to Enid than with Maud, she'd learnt that in the past when magical schools were a rarity kids were taught magic by their parents, and it was something that had never gone away since.

Finding out that a magical school existed that taught the basics of spells and potions intrigued Mildred, and it did make sense that while the families would have expertise with teaching their children the basics of both there would have to be some things they couldn't learn from scratch at home.

"What else do you learn at the school?" Mildred asked.

"All sorts of subjects," Zac said, tasting his soup and grimacing slightly at the taste; Mildred didn't blame him, when she'd first tried the school meals it had taken a while for her to get used to the muck. "We learn about runic magic, herbology - magical plants," he added when he saw the confusion on Mildred's face before he regained his train of thought, "charms which are basically special spells, transfiguration which does what it sounds like, erm alchemy, which is an older form of potions, magical archaeology, and enchantments. Most witches and wizards won't learn any of those unless they're in a college, or a university. But we learn them at Pentangles. Miss Pentangle wanted our school to be traditional, and yet have subjects which have been around for years but not taught at the current level that's usually found in a school like Cackles."

"Are they the types of subject you're likely to learn at home?" Mildred asked, she didn't know why but hearing about the diversity of magical subjects beyond the lessons she herself was taking filled her with delight. While the lessons surprised her since she had read the Harry Potter books, she guessed they would have had a basis in reality.

"Not really," Zac replied. "Transfiguration, for instance, can be considered a bit dangerous to learn. Our teacher at the school stresses its not a subject to play games with."

Mildred wondered what the subject entailed if it required that kind of warning - her knowledge of transfiguration from the Harry Potter novels hadn't exactly given her a lot of insight, but her imagination had come into play, but this was reality. She was about to ask another question when she caught sight of Zac and Sapphire's slightly intimidated faces and she became aware of someone standing over her before she heard Miss Hardbroom's voice.

"Mildred Hubble, time for more revision," the potions teacher said.

Mildred turned her head and saw Miss Hardbroom right by her shoulder with Ethel just behind her, but the woman wasn't looking at her. She was too busy glaring at Zac and Sapphire, who were more than a little taken aback by their treatment. Mildred stood up, hoping that she could distract Miss Hardbroom and stop her blaming the Pentangles' duo for whatever had happened between her and Miss Pentangle. She knew that something had happened, and while she really didn't care about the history between them, she didn't think it was fair for her to pick on Zac and Sapphire for something they hadn't even done.

Mildred glanced at Ethel's face - she was looking at Zac with hearts in her eyes, but she was at war with herself because while Zac was cute he and Sapphire were still Cackle's competition. Mildred wondered if Ethel and all the other girls were home schooled because it would explain her lack of worldly experience. She had noticed that about nearly everyone - none of them seemed to gone to school prior to coming to Cackle's, and they didn't have the more streetwise view she had, because if they had then Ethel may not have been so torn.

Fortunately the spell on Miss Hardbroom - no witch pun intended - broke when she noticed Mildred stand up and move away from the table. She turned to look at Mildred, her expression unchanging, before she flicked her fingers and transported to the Potions lab with Mildred and Ethel with her. Safe in her own domain, Miss Hardbroom dropped the glare.

"Go to your workstations," she instructed as though she hadn't just come close to losing her icy temper, "and we shall get to work…."

* * *

Unknown to the three Cackle's witches, there was a fourth witch in the Potions lab watching the whole thing, standing underneath an invisibility spell and careful not to make a sound as she observed the tutorial. Pippa Pentangle hadn't really intended to spy on her friend's lessons to her own Bees; it was standard practice for the opposing school to try to gain some advantage over the other by spying and seeing what the competition was capable of, but Pippa didn't really see the point; whenever she herself had hosted the competition at her Academy, she had always chosen spells and potions for her students to work with at random after a quick study, and she knew Ada and others used the same technique. But she knew Hecate would be forcing her school's Bees into learning every scrap of magic there was and making sure they didn't speak to Zac or Sapphire as if afraid they'd open their mouths.

The Spelling Bee was supposed to be a competition, for fun, to give a challenge to the schools not just to see who was good but to also drive them to be better, and while some headteachers Pippa knew would definitely note down the pros and cons of having specific spells used, some decided to note down spells and choose them from random.

In her view it was probably best to do that, so then you didn't have to commit the spells to memory. She had tried that once, and while Pentangle's had succeeded, she had felt it was too scripted the way she had asked her students and the opposing school to perform the magic.

But the practice was essential for the Spelling Bee competition and she was pleased see her friend hadn't lost her touch. While Pippa was still a bit surprised and more than a little miffed by Hecate's sudden decision to stop speaking to her all those years ago, she did respect the other woman a great deal and she had never lost that respect in all the years they taught at different schools. But one thing worried Pippa ad she watched this lesson.

Mildred Hubble. The girl from a non-witch family, the girl who had apparently saved the school twice from Ada Cackle's sister, and had almost been expelled recently for stealing a star globe.

She had heard about the so called 'worst witch' (why anyone would call a child that, she did not know, but she knew that if things didn't change soon the girl's confidence would take a battering) of course, many times over the past few months, and she had been impressed. Pippa had been 16 when she had first met a witch from a non-magical family, and they'd become great friends. But Pippa had learnt from her how hard it had been becoming a witch since very few people would help her - sometimes Pippa felt the tradition that witches helped themselves did more harm than good, even if the philosophy had helped witches for hundreds of years - but she had grown into her own person, and while she had had problems with spells and potions, she had become very good and had passable grades. Pippa had wanted to found her own magical school and give something to the magical community. She had surprised her parents when they'd discovered her passion, but they had supported her like always. While some of the lessons Pippa had arranged to be taught at her school, she had pushed through the red tape and her school was becoming successful each day. It had been hard to get the lessons she'd wanted of course - that was the problem with traditionalists, they believed spells, potions, broomstick flying, chanting and the other subjects you'd find just about anywhere good enough for any magical school, but Pippa wanted a magical school that showed there was more to magic than those subjects.

One of the things Pippa had in place were the Spell science basics class and the potions theory classes at her school, those were compulsory lessons that were designed to teach her students techniques that most witches and wizards didn't learn until they'd reached a higher level of education, but they were also meant to help teach the students from non-magical families the basics that their peers had learned much earlier.

Watching this lesson and the way Mildred worked diligently, though sometimes Pippa cringed and mentally willed the girl to use a different ingredient, made the Pentangle's headmistress glad she had put those lessons in place anyway in her school. It was obvious that no-one had bothered to take this girl to one side and teach her where she was going wrong. Why, what in Morgans's name was wrong with Hecate? Surely she didn't think traditional witch practices would really work with Mildred, did she? That was what scared and worried Pippa watching this lesson. She was scared Mildred would never learn how magic worked. It was possible that Hecate's approach would in the long run, but this was an important competition, it would be noted down in the education files on Mildred, Zac, Sapphire, and Ethel. She couldn't afford to make mistakes, none of them could.

It was clear that while Mildred was talented and had the spirit of a witch, it wasn't being nurtured correctly, and Hecate didn't help either. Underneath the invisibility spell she'd cast over herself, Pippa cringed when she witnessed the way how her old friend berated Mildred for getting one of the potions wrong, and for the next hour things didn't really improve that much. Didn't Hecate realise that this kind of thing was causing more harm than good? Another witch, one who had been taught potions at a young age would easily be able to make these potions, and would excel, but Mildred didn't have the training.

While the mistakes Mildred made were elementary and easily rectified, Hecate made them sound like crimes, but what surprised Pippa was the apathetic look on Mildred's face.

Pippa realised there and then Mildred no longer cared about Cackles, and would probably not say no to an opportunity to leave, and after that incident with the star globe, Pippa was not surprised by the girl's indifferent attitude, though it was disconcerting. What worried Pippa the most was how no one in Cackles seemed to have learnt from their mistakes. She could tell that Mildred had been treated like this by everyone, especially Hecate, for a long time. The signs were there. It was just…..tragic that her old friend was so apathetic herself when it came to other people's feelings when she had insecurities a mile wide.

After seeing that she left the potions lab, deciding that she would find her own students. She would have preferred the time for Sapphire and Zac to be in the lab themselves and do what Mildred and Ethel were up to, but since Hecate and Miss Cackle had scheduled the lab for their use, they couldn't jointly use the lab at all.

Pippa found them in the great hall pouring over various books. They looked up when she approached them and smiled at her. Pippa smiled back.

"How is it going?" she asked softly.

"We're doing okay," Sapphire smiled back, "we've been looking over the books you told us to bring."

"It would just be simpler if we could spend time in the Potions lab," Zac added.

"We were always going to have that problem," Pippa replied, shaking her head for a moment as she thought of the childish way Hecate had disguised her pleasure in denying her and her own pupils access to the lab. "Still, we'll have the opportunity to get into the lab at some point. Did you speak to the Cackle's bees yet?" Pippa refused to call them competition even if that was what it was. In her mind the Spelling Bee should just be a harmless game where two schools could develop their skills. It was just sad that many people used it as an excuse to start an all-out war. Pippa would have to be hypocritical to not claim she herself didn't sometimes laud her school over the other, but it was good for morale.

"We spoke with Mildred around lunch before the scary teacher, Miss Hardbroom took her and Ethel out of the hall," Sapphire said, making Pippa hide her grin at the apt description of her friend. "She isn't happy about the competition, you can tell just from the way she acts," Sapphire replied.

Pippa nodded, remembering how indifferent Mildred had seemed when she and Ethel had greeted her and her students. But she had done some checking into the girl, so she felt she understood where Mildred was coming from. But seeing the apathetic expression on the girl's face twice didn't bode well for Cackles.

She decided to come clean. "I heard that only a couple of days ago, Mildred was accused of stealing a star globe and was put on trial, but it was more of a way for them to attack her," she said. "From what I've learnt about Mildred, she's referred to as the worst witch."

"Oh no, seriously?" Sapphire replied aghast. Pippa wasn't surprised by the girl's reaction - if it wasn't for her school, Sapphire's mother might very well have been given the same title. One of the policies Pentangles had over other schools that taught or would teach boys and girls who had never grown up learning about magic was they would be taught the basics from scratch and would develop their skills at a pace that fitted them, and it had worked. But Pippa insisted and made it clear she didn't want those same students to be slow all the time, but she did make allowances. Unlike Cackles and many other schools, Pentangles had classes that dealt with different levels in the hope that the lower levels would rise up to a point where they'd become better. It was a system that seemed to work, and while some people might take one look at secondary schools outside the conclaves of magic and guess Pippa had taken the idea from them, they would have been surprised to find the idea had actually come from a few of the magical academies that had cropped up over the years. There, the idea was simply to help girls and boys who had grown up learning the basics of spell casting and had put them into the levels to help them develop their repertoire.

Pippa nodded. "Yeah, and it wasn't until the last moment the globe was found by its owner. They were just getting ready to expel Mildred by that point."

"How did you find that out?" Sapphire asked.

"I asked Miss Cackle over a cup of tea," Pippa replied. "I asked a few subtle questions about Mildred; I didn't care about the competition at that point, or the rivalry between our schools at the moment, I just wanted to know more about her. I just expressed to Miss Cackle about the non-magical students I have at Pentangle's and asked her how Mildred was doing here."

"And she told you?"

"Mildred is hardly a state secret," Pippa said. "Ever since the Great Wizard himself was here, a lot of people have talked about little else but Mildred for months. While the girl's flying and spell skills need a lot of work, there is a lot of talk about the Wizard's endorsement of having non-magical students come into the conclave and learn magic."

Zac whistled, knowing only too well how traditionally minded many people could be. He came from a family that had been magical for 400 years now. They weren't as powerful as the Hallow family and others, but they did mingle a great deal. "I bet quite a few people will find that a bitter potion to swallow."

Pippa nodded.

"Mildred might have been indifferent about the Spelling Bee," Zac said to his headmistress, "but she does seem interested in Pentangles. She had a look of interest on her face when we told her about the different lessons."

Hearing that made Pippa's day. She had been severely dismayed by Hecate's ruthless stance in keeping the potions lab to herself, having to listen to Miss Cackle speak about the way Mildred had been treated when she was no better, and having to see that sorry excuse for a tutorial. The funny thing was Pippa was reminded of Hecate whenever she laid eyes on Mildred; both were pale, dark haired, but where Mildred lacked Hecate's already prodigious knowledge of spells and potions when she'd been that age, the girl had the heart of a witch.

But the biggest similarity between the two had been the acute loneliness they'd had. Unlike Hecate, Mildred had creative talents that hadn't even touched properly, she could see it. The girl was special, but like Hecate she had little idea of where she stood anymore.

Okay, so Mildred might have distanced herself from the other girls to stop herself from being tormented like she had been recently, but so had Hecate. Pippa decided there and then that she would try to help Mildred - from the sounds of it the girl was already thinking of leaving, so she would need to be subtle and not drive the girl away, but she hoped the girl would accept the overtures, and even if she didn't then Pippa could say she'd tried her best.

The only thing working against her was that Mildred might have had enough of magic and no longer wanted anything to do with it.

* * *

Author's note - Pippa has seen the similarities between Mildred and Hecate and is determined to try to help her. While some people might compare her stance to ImaginationOfAFan's _Just Like Hecate,_ there is a big difference here - Pippa has no intention of backing down and besides, she knows Mildred has a creative spark Hecate Hardbroom simply lacks. But she knows Mildred could very well have had enough of magic.

What do you think?


	4. Chapter 4 The Pentangle's Headmistress

I don't own the Worst Witch.

The Pentangle's Headmistress and the Worst Witch.

The sound of someone speaking and appearing in her bedroom using a transportation spell was a welcome relief for Mildred, who had been in her bedroom for hours, pouring over the numerous magic books. Her eyes were stinging from concentrating hard in the dim light of her bedroom, but she jumped when she heard someone say, "I thought you might be hungry," and the pink clad form of Miss Pentangle appeared, holding in her hand a doughnut.

Pippa smiled down at the girl, trying to hide her concern about the girl wearing a woolen scarf and a pair of fingerless gloves, but she was trying her best not to react at the graffiti scrawled over the wall. She handed the doughnut over to the girl with a smile, "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."

Mildred smiled back, taking the doughnut from the woman, closing her eyes as she took in the scent from the piece of cake in her hand. "I wasn't worried about that," she replied, trying hard to keep her curiosity about why the Pentangle's Headmistress was in her bedroom, but the possibilities were limited; Mildred didn't think the woman needed to try subtle methods to find things out, so she doubted she was here to ask questions about the sort of things HB was making her and Ethel learn.

Pippa was at a loss about what she could say. She desperately wanted to speak to this girl, but she found it rather hard to think of a way to start the conversation. "Dear old Hecate," she began, wondering why she was even mentioning her old friend, "she takes things so seriously."

Mildred looked up from the glazed doughnut to the pink clad witch. "How do you two know each other?" she asked, deciding to play the older witch's game; the awkward way she'd said that about Hardbroom had hinted she had little idea how to speak to her, so Mildred decided to go down that route to find out why the woman was here. She personally didn't know the woman, but she didn't think it was beneficial to make her angry by saying something rude.

Pippa was now kicking herself for deciding that Hecate was a good start to this conversation after bringing the doughnut to the girl. She'd brought it here because she knew that the majority of kids loved them, and felt it was a nice little gift. "We were friends once," she replied, deciding there was no harm in not being honest.

"But you're not anymore?" Mildred wasn't sure why she was even asking. It wasn't like she herself had a good relationship with the woman after all.

Pippa turned her head for a second, "I'd rather not talk about it."

Mildred nodded her head in agreement, she had had more than enough of Hecate Hardbroom to last a lifetime this week. She was quite surprised when Miss Pentangle dropped herself onto the mattress besides her. "It was a broomstick water skiing display," she said, "we'd been practicing ALL term, and then suddenly, on the day of the competition she didn't show up. Let's just say a double's display with only one of you doesn't go well."

Pippa took the still uneaten doughnut out of Mildred's hand, giving the dark haired witch deja vu, and bit out a chunk and chewed.

"Still," she said with her mouthful before saying airily, "it's all in the past."

Not really caring if she was being cheeky, Mildred took the doughnut back and broke it in half, making sure Miss Pentangle received the piece she had bitten in while keeping the other. "Sorry, but I've been without a doughnut for months," she said before biting into the sweet cake.

Pippa chuckled. "No, don't be sorry," she whispered, "I should have brought my own."

The two witches sat on the mattress, chewing on their doughnut halves. Mildred caught the other witch looking sadly at the ruins of her bedroom, but she seemed awkward about how to broach the subject.

"You're not the only one who's been doing her homework, you know," Miss Pentangle said, licking her fingers of the sugar from the doughnut, surprising Mildred as she wondered where this stranger was going with this, "It would seem you have saved this school, not once but twice."

Mildred shook her head, remembering both of those times. Looking back, she wondered why she had bothered, because she had gotten very little out of it save a pat on the head, and in the end she was treated like she was something that had come in from the cold.

She didn't say a word about saving the school - the first time was down to pot luck, the fact she was exempt from the all mighty Witches' code which was just a load of mumbo-jumbo wasn't something to boast about now she had been in the school for months already to realise that, and the second time it was Maud, who had woken Miss Cackle up from the same spell the headmistress had tried to use on her sister, but Agatha had cleverly reflected back; she might have had her powers taken away, but Agatha wasn't stupid.

Unfortunately, that occasion had only made Mildred's fear of heights worse than it had ever been. Ethel hadn't really been punished as far as she knew, but she had let it go, but now she genuinely didn't care because now the blonde could have what she'd wanted - her gone.

"It's not happening again," Mildred said darkly, licking her fingers of the sugar.

"Because of the star globe?" Miss Pentangle said in a knowing tone that made the young girl look over at her, becoming very suspicious about her presence and what this was all about. Rather than be perturbed by the sudden shift of mood, the pink clad witch smiled gently at her smaller counterpart. "I told you you weren't the only one to do her research, didn't I? I know about what happened shortly before I arrived at Cackles."

Mildred just looked at her. The memory of that day from hell was still raw, still fresh, and not because it had happened such a short time ago, but she had no intention of forgetting it. In her mind, she only needed to bide her time, fail her exams, and she and the others could go their own separate ways. It was sad because she had desperately wanted to become a witch, but she didn't want to be bullied, harassed, and victimised simply because she hadn't had the upbringing the other girls' had. She had tried, honestly, to be better, but it hadn't worked out the way she had. She wasn't sure if Cackle or Hardbroom suspected it, but truthfully she didn't really care.

Mildred just wanted to get her life back on track, with a culture she understood, and while she knew she would miss doing magic and learning about it, she knew enough to realise it was never going to go the way she had pictured or hoped it would go. It was such a shame.

"Why did they react the way they did?" Mildred asked Miss Pentangle without saying a word about her plans for the future, "I mean I get that the globes are special and all that, but why did they go that far?"

Mildred realised she hadn't bothered to ask why the globes were such a deal, but she didn't know why everything had collapsed the way it had. But here was a witch who'd not even been present, and she should know about the globes and give her a proper answer.

If Pippa had been concerned, there were people in the school who hoped to push Mildred down a path she clearly wasn't ready for, then she was scared now. "You mean…..you weren't told about the spells on them?" she whispered.

Mildred just looked confused, but internally she began to realise that this could be the key to the mystery that had bugged her. She knew magic could be used to cause harm, she'd seen and experienced it first hand many times before. "What spells?"

Pippa closed her eyes and shook her head as she fought the urge to scream and find Hecate, and make the stubborn fool realise what she was doing wrong by teaching this sweet kid. She liked Mildred, she really did, and she hated seeing her so ignorant. "What do you know about the star globes, Mildred?" she asked, deciding to start with the basics.

"Well, I know Merlin himself created them, that they're very rare, and very precious," Mildred said, it was a basic explanation but all she could provide, really.

"Correct, though there's a lot more to them than that," Pippa replied as she prepared to give the lecture that someone else should have given. "But first, what do you know about the Craft, Mildred?"

Pippa wanted to know how much Mildred actually knew about magic, about their history and culture, but truthfully she wanted to know how much work she had to do to make up for Hecate's mistakes, figuring this was the most ideal time to work it out for herself.

"The Craft? Well, that's magic, right?"

"Wrong. The Craft is more than just magic, it's the whole history of the magical world, and I mean the whole magical world. Magic has existed for humanity since our species began, but the Craft is the only true union between them all. Merlin created the Craft, he didn't want magic, any magic to die out in the world, not after so many communities were lost over the years. Merlin saw the dangers of living so close to non-magical people, so he created conclaves where we could educate our young without worrying about them being harmed. The idea behind the conclaves was we could have a place to live while practicing our magic without being noticed, while still interacting with the non-magical world and change with the times," Pippa explained.

Mildred had never known that little detail about the magical world, and she wondered for a second if that was the reason people disliked her, because she represented a people who had hounded the magical world. No. She had seen evidence of non-magical culture and technology at Cackles over the last few months, and everyone knew about Youtube, Brexit, Social media, things like that.

Seeing the thoughtful look on Mildred's face, Pippa went on with her lecture. "On both sides, there are been possessions left by famous people which are famous because of the person who owned them, but inventors are revered because of how brilliant the invention was. Merlin is no exception, but the star globes were one of the few things he made, and he put spells on them but no one knows what these spells are meant to do, and no one can find out because the spells are woven into them. No one knows for sure if Merlin wanted people to have a lot of feeling towards protecting the globes, or if he was merely adding a suggestion. But some believe that he wanted his inventions to be protected rather than be destroyed "

"Did they mean it?" Mildred whispered, wondering if she was being oversensitive about what everyone, including Maud and Enid had said and done…

Miss Pentangle blinked in surprise at the question, "Did who mean it?" she asked, though she had an idea the girl was asking about her friends, but because Pippa didn't know who Mildred had been friends with.

"Everyone who said all those horrible things about me, did they mean what they said?" Mildred whispered.

Pippa decided to be honest. "Like I said, no one knows for sure what Merlin had in his mind when he cast the spells on the globes, Mildred," she said carefully, "I've heard many theories about why the star globes give out such harsh feeling, but there's one theory that makes sense. Some claim the globes bring out the darker thoughts of what's in the mind. Answering your question, yes, I think they did mean it, because deep down in their subconscious that was what they were thinking. I think that was what they had in their minds, but don't tell me you haven't felt angry thoughts about them yourself."

Mildred looked sadly away, she'd hoped deep down that somehow she could find it within herself to forgive Maud and the others, but now this had shattered her hopes. But she couldn't argue with what Miss Pentangle had just said, because she had had angry thoughts about the teachers, Maud, Enid, Felicity, all of them.

Pippa looked at the girl sadly before she neatly changed the subject, well almost. "What are you going to do about this bedroom, Mildred? Are you going to keep it like this?"

"Yeah," Mildred replied, not seeing the point in hiding anything from this woman, though she wanted to know more about the star globes in the hope she could avoid the damn things in the future. "I don't see the point in changing anything, and besides everyone at the school's gone out of their way to make sure I don't feel welcome."

Pippa bit her lip as she tried to restrain the urge to find the girls who'd done this, but she knew it would do no good, and besides while she wanted to help Mildred she knew violence wasn't going to help. Part of Pippa wanted to tell the girl she would be welcome, more than welcome, at Pentangle's, but she didn't dare. The last thing she wanted was to push the girl too hard when it appeared she was a second away from leaving Cackles already, and besides why should the girl trust her anyway? It was clear the girl had trusted Ada, and thanks to the poor handling of the situation with the globe, that trust was in tatters. Compared to Hecate and Ada, she was a stranger.

Pippa didn't dare tell the girl if the whole mess had happened at Pentangle's then this would never have happened, but she couldn't say that either. She had no idea what the Star globe would have done to her own.

"I'm sorry, Mildred," Pippa found herself saying, "but what do you plan to do?"

Mildred blinked up at her. "What do you mean, miss?"

"What do you plan to do? It's clear you no longer care about Cackles anymore, you've split from your friends, and you're not bothered about the Spelling Bee. What do you plan to do?" Pippa asked.

Mildred was tempted to tell this pink clad witch her plans were none of her business, but she doubted it would make any difference if she did know.

"I plan to leave Cackles, and I don't care how I do it," Mildred admitted. "When the trial was over, I realised I had no place in this school. I had no friends, yeah Maud and Enid may have been driven mad by the globe or had joined the crowd, or something like that, but I don't care anymore. All I want is to get out of the school. Some might call me ungrateful for throwing away the chance to be a witch Miss Pentangle, but I'm not learning anything."

"And I know why," Pippa replied bluntly; she felt bad for saying that, but the girl needed to face reality and realise how little she was actually being told.

Mildred blinked up at her, wondering if this woman who had only kindly given her a doughnut a few minutes ago was being blunt. "What do you mean?"

"Witch tradition - witches help themselves, Mildred," Pippa explained. "It's like handwriting, you can be taught the basics of writing, but over time you develop your own style, and then its yours. Magic is no different - its a part of you, Mildred. The girls in this school and the students at my own school, many of them have been taught the basics of magic at a young age, but they have been encouraged to develop their powers on their own. Many of them use silent casting, using gestures and thinking about what they want and urging their magic to do the job. No one has told you that, have they?"

Mildred shook her head. She had more or less learnt that some spells were described in theory, but there was no way of using them because the books she'd read hadn't described a way of using them, but then again the people who read them already knew how to perform the spell.

She felt so stupid!

Pippa saw her reaction and she gently pulled the girl into her arms. "Listen, it's not your fault - no one has told you anything about magic, Miss Cackle or Miss Hardbroom should have given you a hint," she said, though inwardly she wondered if Hecate was deliberately trying to hold Mildred back from learning magic properly. But she'd give it more thought later on when she was alone and had the time to think without being distracted by anyone, not least Hecate herself.

As she held the little witch to her chest, Pippa realised her hopes to get this girl into Pentangles' might be easier than she'd expected. She pulled back, and looked Mildred in the eye, the distance between them measured by inches.

"Mildred, now you know one of the secrets witches have for casting magic, I want you to try something simple. Nothing complicated, but something simple."

Mildred opened her mouth to tell her she couldn't do it, but she realised that she could - she might not have a brain for remembering long, rhyming incantations, but she did have an imagination. Mildred nodded nervously, "Okay, I'll give it a try," she said, hoping she sounded more confident than she felt.

Pippa smiled encouragingly, hiding the anger she felt since it was clear the girl had not been encouraged.

Mildred closed her eyes and held out her left hand, and she concentrated by visualising a ball of light. She heard Miss Pentangle gasp out, "That's great Mildred."

Mildred opened her eyes and smiled when she saw a ball the size of a golf ball hovering over the palm of her hand. She looked excitedly at the pink clad witch sitting next to her.

"I did it, Miss Pentangle!"

Pippa grinned and wrapped her arms around Mildred again. "See, it's not so difficult," she whispered, "you might find leaving Cackles is the best way for you to learn how to become a witch, but don't give up on magic, okay? I'd better be going. I need to see Zac and Sapphire."

"Bye," Mildred said, unable to hide the sadness in her voice, and Pippa smiled down at the witch - she had proven herself to be a witch just this minute, and she knew if Hecate had just seen the display she would be changing her mind about Mildred and trying to keep her here.

Mentally choosing the room where her students were currently using to study, Pippa prepared to cast the transportation spell, but she had one bit of advice for the girl in front of her. "You are talented, Mildred," she said before she left, "but you don't need to be a Cackles' girl to be one."

It might be pushing her luck, but Pippa Pentangle had often pushed boundaries here and there.

* * *

Notes - Some people reading this might think Pippa is like Darth Sidious and Albus Dumbledore because they manipulated a principle character, but Pippa is nothing like those two - she genuinely cares about Mildred and she hates to see someone clearly talented suffer, and she wanted to help.


	5. Chapter 5 Pride and Prospectus

I hope you're enjoying the story and I hope you enjoy this latest chapter, which will definitely help Mildred decide her future.

Feedback is always welcome.

Pride and Prospectus.

Mildred blew out a breath as she left the potions classroom, the stench of the potion still making her eyes water as she walked away from Miss Hardbroom and Ethel, the smell following her like the gas from a really bad fart. She just…. wanted to get away from them both, cursing her own stupid luck for having a last name that began with 'H', but then again, knowing her luck she would have still been in this stupid contest regardless.

The potions she and Ethel had been working on being just the latest of a long line of revision as the competition drew closer and closer. It began easily enough, they had to dice the ingredients, measure them and prepare everything for Hardbroom's dubious approval. And then…. Mildred just didn't know why she couldn't brew a potion correctly, because the bloody thing exploded, fortunately the cauldron contained the worst of the blast, but it was enough to belch a foul smelling grey smoke into the air.

Mildred headed for the grounds, anything to get the smell out of her nostrils before she could smell her uniform to check if the stench was still on her, trying to put the expressions of contempt she'd received from Hardbroom and Ethel out of her mind; she truly didn't understand why they were bothering with her since they had made it clear they were going to make sure she had nothing to do with the competition in the first place, which was going to be on in a few hours time anyway.

Fantastic.

As she walked around the grounds for a few moments, breathing in the clean, fresh air with the smell of pollen and grass in the air, thankful she was able to take a break so she could get her breath back. Mildred was just about to go back inside when she saw Zac and Sapphire coming out of the school.

She hadn't really seen or spoken to the two Pentangle's students ever since their first meeting, but seeing their determined expressions on their faces made her realise they were looking for her. Mildred only hoped they didn't say or do anything nasty to her; her confidence was still rebuilding after that trial.

"Hi," she greeted them.

The two smiled back at her, putting her at her ease. The two Pentangle's students exchanged looks and Zac pulled out a purple booklet out of his bag and handed it over to Mildred, who took it curiously and saw the Pentangle's pentagram crest picked out in silver. "Why are you giving me this?" she asked.

"You were curious about Pentangles, and we told Miss Pentangle, who went back to the school to get it," Sapphire replied.

Mildred looked at the prospectus booklet curiously. It felt bigger than the one Cackles had, but she was a little curious about why Miss Pentangle would go to all the trouble of going back to her school and get a prospectus for her, but she doubted Zac and Sapphire knew the answer. But that didn't stop her looking at them curiously, hoping she wasn't looking at them both too suspicious. She nodded at last, deciding that if she had the chance to speak to Miss Pentangle again, she would ask her why she had gotten the prospectus.

Unfortunately, she didn't have the opportunity to read the prospectus until much later. She had needed to avoid the beady eyes of Miss Hardbroom, the contempt of Ethel Hallow as they continued their revision lessons, and the inviting looks from Felicity, Maud and Enid, all day before she managed to reach the comparative privacy of her bedroom, and she took the prospectus out of its hiding place in her bag and she opened it and began to read.

"My name is Pippa Pentangle, and I am the headmistress of Pentangles Academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I have spent 30 years of my life learning how to be a teacher, and later a headmistress. I have travelled the world, learning different forms of magic and working with different ways of educating. When I was a little girl, I learnt magic just like everybody else - I learnt how to brew potions, learnt how to fly on a broomstick, but when I got into magical school I was disappointed. I had spent years dreaming about learning how to become an enchantress, and so I was looking forwards to learning the art of enchanting only to discover my school didn't offer it. I learnt enchanting at college, and so I asked my tutor why it wasn't taught at school. "

"The answer was simple - enchanting is a very old magical art, almost as old as potions, but unlike potions which still have a use today, many people today feel that there is no need for enchanting classes even if they are well within the range of ability of a student. When I heard this I realised many subjects and branches of magic had been consigned to history because they were considered archaic."

"At the same time I discovered my passion for teaching; I had already tutored several girls during my time at school, and I realised I had a deft gift for encouraging others, and I wanted to expand on it. I enrolled on teaching courses while all the time having the knowledge many magical arts were dying out, and as I travelled from one school to another, gathering contacts and gaining more experience teaching classes in schools and colleges I began to dream of creating a school to ensure those magical arts did not die out."

"But it wasn't easy - I had so many ideas about how to run the school, what to teach, but eventually I worked it all out. I founded Pentangles and unlike most magical schools, I made it a school where witches could work with wizards and learn the traditional magical subjects - potions, spells, and chanting and flying, but I added subjects that raised eyebrows. I have hired teachers who are passionate about their subjects, offered opportunities that few schools provide, and I'm having more fun than I ever have"

"And now my school is doing better than ever before, and it's stronger than before, and I have approached every problem and obstacle with my usual sense of optimism."

It was signed Pippa Pentangle.

Mildred flicked through the pages, remembering what she'd heard from Zac and Sapphire about the classes, so she flicked through the booklet to the relevant pages. Zac and Sapphire weren't exaggerating there, they did learn about the theories on both potions and spells. There was a note about that written in Miss Pentangle's script, and Mildred leaned closer to read the one on the spells class.

"Although many students learn from their parents how potions are brewed and how spells are cast, those are techniques that are unique to their families, but while the majority of young witches and wizards have already developed their own spell style, some of them still find it difficult to cast some spells. This theory class is designed to help them develop their style, but for students who already have it the class is still beneficial in the long run since it gives them a chance to grow their style."

The potions theory explanation was just as similar.

"When I was younger, my mother and my grandmother worked with one of my aunts to teach me how to brew potions - but I've found that dozens of families, and some schools for that matter, teach their students different techniques for brewing a potion. No two potion brewers are identical. Every one of them teach dozens of methods. This class is to help students learn some of those skills and techniques so they can become potion brewers of their own right."

The more Mildred found out about these theory classes, the more interested she became because these classes could definitely help her learn how to become a witch - Wait! Wasn't she trying to leave magic behind and go back to the non-magical world, and enter a non-magical school and just live her life without people like Hardbroom driving her mad because she didn't know what some potion ingredients could do?

Was Pentangle manipulating her into going to her school? Mildred was tempted to throw the prospectus away before it occurred to her that perhaps Pentangles could be the place for her. But she was still a bit unsure about what would happen if she just said no and followed through with her original plan to just leave Cackles at the end of the year.

Torn between both options which had pros and cons, Mildred kept reading the prospectus. She ignored the Chanting bit, feeling it was probably no different than the lessons she had already, but something caught her eye when she read the Flying lessons part and she leaned in closer to read it. The page was striking because there was a photo of a young boy standing next to a teacher who was clearly helping him, and there was another photograph showing a group of students on a broomstick passing balls around while flying about. Mildred frowned - broomstick games were forbidden at Cackles.

"Every witch and wizard knows how to fly on a broomstick, indeed broomstick flying is one of the defining qualities of a witch. But unlike other magical schools which has a qualification test early in their first years, Pentangles' doesn't give our students their qualification test until their third year. This isn't to bring down the confidence of the children from magical families, far from it. We know that some are flyers than others, and our three flying instructors can teach students techniques to help them become better.

"The reason the qualification flight takes place during the third year of a Pentangle's student's education is because the extra time can be used to teach them how to be truly confident on a broom. We have found that broomstick races and games played on a broomstick can teach the students how to fly without being put under too much pressure."

There were a few more paragraphs on that page, but Mildred's eyes kept returning to reread the one she had just read. The idea of spending a couple more years learning the basics of broomstick flight and playing games with them without people like Drill and Hardbroom harassing her sounded a little too good to be true, but she knew they couldn't lie in a prospectus though truthfully Mildred was beginning to wonder if she was just being overly paranoid.

Shrugging her shoulders, she kept on reading, looking through the book before she found herself looking at the page on Herbology. Pictures of students wearing the Pentangle's uniform covered by white smocks in a greenhouse of some sort, clustered around a massive table or desk covered with soil and clay pots with strange plants.

"Herbology is one of our core subjects as it gives our students an early knowledge of how this field of magical science works. Without herbology, we wouldn't have many of our potion ingredients used for healing purposes, so learning about the plants benefits our students, who soon come to understand the different properties behind each one. Most universities and colleges teach Herbology, and it is a rare class in schools, but in Pentangles it allows students to become truly familiar with magical plants like Mandrakes and Devil's Snare," Mildred read out aloud before she pouted in thought, "Devil's snare, like the stuff in Harry Potter?"

Charms was more interesting - Mildred had never really been into gardening, the limited space in her flat had only given herself and her mother the barest amount of space needed to grow small flowers, not something bigger than a rose bush. Pushing all thoughts of herbology aside, Mildred read the part about charms.

"Unlike other kinds of spells taught today, charms add and alter what an object does as opposed to what the object is, whereas a Transfiguration spell or a conventional spell cast by a witch or wizard just is. Charms can be truly spectacular and can be a game-changer. In some cases a charm can be cast to protect people, or they can alter the very subject of an ordinary spell. Our charms master and mistress teach students the best means of casting these charms and how to utilise them."

Mildred paused in her reading for a second as she thought about the charms subject. It fascinated her there were different branches of spells than the one she was familiar with, and while she felt pleased she had learnt how to really cast a spell, one that didn't involve a string of words, but a thought and had begun to practice it a little bit, she still wanted to learn more about it. But she overheard a nagging little voice, the same voice she heard that said nothing she did would turn out right in the end and in this case it said even if she had an early interest in charms it might prove to be as frustrating to learn as her lessons at Cackles had been.

Pushing the prospectus aside for the moment Mildred thought about it a little more, and she had to admit, while Pentangles sounded fascinating and more than a little compelling, she didn't want to suffer and endure the same humiliating disappointments Cackles had turned out to be. She had saved the school once (she didn't believe the second time with Agatha counted, not while she had been flung around on that bloody broomstick) and she hadn't gotten anything out of it, she had been accused of theft and had been victimised for a whole day, her cat had been injured and it was only pure luck he hadn't been killed because of the callousness of the witch who'd cast the spell.

Did she honestly want to be conned by another school? No, she didn't, but how could she be sure if Miss Pentangle wouldn't be another Ada Cackle, someone who smiled while turning a blind eye against the bullying Mildred would probably receive? Another thing Mildred had to take into account was the thought of her mother because she knew that her mum wouldn't want her to suffer in the same way again, and truthfully Mildred didn't want to have to tell her mum Pentangle's was no different.

Still, Miss Pentangle had told her about how spells were cast. She had explained why everyone had gone overboard over that stupid star globe when everyone had been content to let her remain in ignorance (no, Mildred was aware she hadn't been approachable during that point, but she had planned on asking someone about the star globes and why everyone had gone too far), but could Mildred trust her?

Mildred glanced at the still open prospectus and wondered if she should even bother reading anymore for tonight because she was becoming so confused about everything.

* * *

Why did Ethel always have to lash out because Esmerelda had to tell her she'd do brilliantly? The longer Mildred was around the blond the more she wanted to slap the girl around the face, and since she didn't really care for violence that was something that took the usually mild girl aside, but she was just so fed up with Ethel using her and others like her personal punching bags.

Mildred and Ethel had just returned from another gruelling session with Miss Hardbroom. The woman hadn't let off, she was constantly checking the potions made by the two girls, and while Ethel was able to keep up and produce one amazing potion after another while making only the most elementary mistakes, the same couldn't be said for Mildred, who had caused the potion to explode, but fortunately it wasn't a mega explosion like the one before the parent's evening.

All it had done wrong was to simply put a bit of soot on both girls, and put Miss Hardbroom into an even worse mood. Mildred had ignored the blond, tired of her going on and on about it - so she got coated in a bit of soot, big deal. It wasn't going to murder her, was it?

Esmerelda had come along to offer Ethel some luck, and the more volatile Hallow girl had lashed out, saying "Why do I have to be partnered with the Worst Witch?"

Mildred had left the table, sick and tired with the sight of Ethel Hallow and the others, and she had said, "Fuck you," as she'd left - Mildred wasn't the type to generally swear, but that didn't mean she hadn't learnt some of the language, but she hadn't stopped there. She had turned back to the stunned group and laid in to Ethel. Mildred smiled at what she had said.

"Why do I have to be partnered with you, you arrogant, self absorbed bitch with family issues?" And then she had walked off, deciding to head for the library to get some peace and quiet, she didn't care one iota if Ethel ran off to tell her sister or Miss Hardbroom. If she was expelled at some point, fantastic…..

Thinking of expulsion made the young witch frown as she headed for the library, she was still not entirely clear about what to do about the prospectus, and the matter of joining Pentangles in favour of Cackles. Still torn, Mildred passed close to the potions classroom and she risked a peek and she wasn't surprised to see Miss Pentangle with Zac and Sapphire.

She knew that thanks to Miss Hardbroom's interference, the Pentangles' students had to work in staggered shifts with her and Ethel over the Potions classroom in order to study, but she knew Zac and Sapphire were able to get the practice in. Using the door as a shield, she watched the two students as Miss Pentangle drifted from one to another, her manner of teaching radically different from what Mildred was used to with Hardbroom. Instead of hovering over them, speaking in clipped, quiet tones that promised trouble if they didn't concentrate, Miss Pentangle was the total opposite. She was quieter, calmer and far more patient - Sapphire seemed to be the less proficient maker of potions out of the two because Miss Pentangle spent more time with her than she did Zac, though she allotted as much time between the duo as she could.

Watching Miss Pentangle as she patiently and kindly advised both of her students who seemed to both appreciate it made her realise that perhaps she was wrong when she'd begun thinking of the Pentangle Headmistress as no better than other witches that Mildred had met. Watching the way she taught Zac and Sapphire made Mildred jealous, because this was someone that Mildred could relate to - Mildred preferred kinder and more patient people rather than those who were the opposite, which was one of the reasons that, until they'd turned on her, she had respected teachers like Bat.

Mildred was broken out of her thoughts when she heard someone speak. "Are you going to stand there all day, Mildred?"

Mildred staggered back in surprise, wondering if she should run or just hyperventilate when she found herself looking into Pippa Pentangle's face. The witch had transported herself out of the classroom and was now looking at her with a slow and easy going smile on her face.

"Miss Pentangle," Mildred tried to say, but ended up babbling instead, "s-sorry, I-I was j-just passing by, and I was just looking-"

Miss Pentangle smiled at the girl, amused by her babbling. "Come in," she said, deciding to be spontaneous, but most of all she decided to show Mildred what a potions class was meant to be, and she didn't care what Hecate thought.

"W-what?" Mildred stuttered in disbelief before she realised what Miss Pentangle was doing. "You want me in your class, even with the competition-?"

"The spelling bee is meant to be a fun time, Mildred, well at least it is in my mind. And besides, I think you've got something inside of you, something that hasn't been nurtured properly. Let me try," Miss Pentangle said the last three words as kindly and as enticingly as she could.

Mildred was hesitant about walking into the classroom, knowing if Hardbroom caught her in this room, then she would be skinned alive and used in a potion, but she screwed up her courage and walked in, passing Sapphire and Zac who had watched the whole thing and were smiling invitingly at her, and she wondered how long it would take before their smiles were wiped off their faces when they realised she was terrible with potions.

It didn't take long for Mildred to work out the two Pentangle's students were actually working on different potions rather than the same potion like what HB was making her and Ethel do at the same time, and when they were finished they worked on either basic or advanced potions Mildred had only read of in books recently.

Miss Pentangle set her up with a third cauldron. "Alright, now I am going to help you make a basic potion, something easy…."

It was easily the best potions tutorial Mildred had ever had. Instead of standing next to her like a menacing shadow, Miss Pentangle actually took the time to show Mildred how the potion worked, how to prepare the ingredients and she had allowed Mildred to spend some of the quick lesson speaking to Zac and Sapphire to get some hints and tips on how the potion worked, though it did occur to her it might be a bad idea since technically she was supposed to avoid these two like the plague. Mildred knew she was a long way, a very long way, from truly understanding how potions worked, but she was having fun as the lesson went on, though Miss Pentangle was just as quick to point out the flaws of putting in an ingredient in the cauldron as Miss Hardbroom, but she wasn't as harsh as Hardbroom.

Oh no, Mildred realised very quickly that while she was a fantastic teacher and fun loving, Miss Pentangle expected her lessons to be followed to the letter.

When Mildred was finished, Miss Pentangle looked at her work and nodded. "It's a good start, Mildred, but you still have a long way to go," she said as encouragingly as she could. Miss Pentangle sent her along so no one realised where she had just been, and she used magic to vanish the cauldron and the workstation Mildred had been working on.

After she'd left the classroom and headed to her bedroom to get some time to herself and look up the rest of the Pentangle's prospectus. She had just had the best potions lesson EVER. Miss Pentangle had taken the time to help her with a potion unlike Miss Hardbroom, but she still wasn't sure what to make of the pink clad witch. Entering her bedroom, she grabbed the prospectus and several other books and started flicking through the Pentangle's booklet while keeping the other books open in case someone came in on the off chance.

Mildred had started reading the part about potions - she would get through the rest of the booklet later, but for now she wanted to reread what she had learnt about how Pentangle's taught potions.

"Mildred Hubble," a slow voice echoed in the bedroom, making Mildred sigh and put the booklet down on the bed. She had had her back to the door, hoping if someone came in they wouldn't see what she was reading. While she didn't care about what anyone thought about her anymore, she didn't want anyone to get an idea of how tempted she was to attend Pentangles instead.

She turned around just in time to catch Miss Hardbroom materialise in her bedroom, and Mildred stood up and gently pushed the prospectus underneath her pillow, hoping HB hadn't noticed. She had no idea what the woman would do if she knew she had the booklet, but she wasn't going to let her destroy it after she'd gotten into it.

"What are you doing in here, Mildred?" She asked. "I have been looking for you now for twenty minutes. You almost missed your next revision session."

"I wanted to get some reading done," Mildred replied, not really worried about the next revision session, guessing that Ethel was probably still sore about what she'd said to her earlier.

"Be that as it may, Mildred, you should have stayed with Ethel and studied, not come up here. Though considering what I have heard what you said to her…..," Miss Hardbroom said, but Mildred held up her hand, not caring about the consequences this time.

"Miss Hardbroom, I am tired of being used as an emotional punching bag for Ethel whenever she wants," Mildred said, "all I want is this stupid contest over with so then we can go our separate ways when the year is finished."

Mildred had never seen Miss Hardbroom look surprised. "You are thinking of leaving?"

Mildred bit her lip, letting most of the emotional hell she had been holding clamped shut and tight inside her soul leak out so she could show this woman what she'd been put through. "A few months ago, I'd have fought back, but now I don't care. During that farce you lot called a trial, you spent more of your time telling everyone all the things I did wrong in class, making them sound like the worst crimes of the century. As it went on I realised I didn't have a place in this school. I would be the worst witch forever. Even my supposed friends wanted nothing to do with me, apart from Tabs I was alone. It didn't matter if I spent 3 extra years here trying and failing to make an effort, so give me a good reason why, why should I not think about leaving? You lot lauded your world over me, telling me I was nothing, that my mum taught me the wrong lessons in life. Get the hint - I wasn't born in your world, I don't understand half of the concepts, but you never made the effort to tell me anything about how things worked even when I asked. I have wanted to be a witch since I found out about them, and this goes back longer than the day Maud crashed into my flat's balcony."

Mildred paused and took a deep breath, she hadn't meant to lose control like that, but now she realised she felt better about herself now she'd gotten it out of her system she found herself wondering why she hadn't bothered previously. It took Mildred a second to realise Miss Hardbroom looked like she had just had her world shattered, but she paid it no mind. She didn't care if she hurt the woman after all the emotional crap she'd shoved her way, all the harassment, all the unfair punishments and the looks of contempt. What did she expect?

Mildred shrugged her shoulders, trying to get the stupid feeling of guilt out of her mind which had settled on her feelings all of a sudden, and walked towards the door. "Shall we go now?" she asked as she opened the door, and it seemed to snap Miss Hardbroom out of her spell.

Miss Hardbroom took a deep breath and nodded. Mildred's feeling of guilt increased as she realised Miss Hardbroom was too upset to use a transportation spell to take them back to the potions classroom. Her slight feeling of guilt increased as she saw the state Ethel was in, the girl's eyes were red rimmed like she'd been crying, but Mildred pushed it aside. She knew she was out of order with her remark, but she was tired of Ethel venting her spleen on others because of her family. Maybe now she would find something else to do when she received too much pressure.

Mildred sat down and Miss Hardbroom began her lecture. She checked the time, later on the competition would start.

* * *

The rest of the Pentangle's prospectus turned out to be just as fascinating as the other parts of it, but as she went further through the prospectus she became more fascinated by the various subjects. When Mildred had been in primary school, she had studied a bit about Ancient Egypt, and she had drawn a few bits about the hieroglyphs, so in her mind Ancient Runes definitely turned out to be fascinating and presented another plus in her mind about Pentangles and made the little voice in her mind that said "Go to Pentangles, go to Pentangles" get louder and louder.

The Ancient Rune's page had a large section written by Miss Pentangle, and Mildred leaned closer to read one of the paragraphs. "Runic magic has existed for thousands of years, making it older than even the Craft. Indeed, for many wizards it was the only form of magic available since you only needed to create a rune and pour magic in it to make it work the way you wanted. It's only within the last 500 years that runic magic has become increasingly rare, but we teach it - a rarity in itself - because Ancient Runes can still have some uses in today's society. A rune could be used to lock your door in place of a spell, send a child into a restful sleep, or ensure your garden grows wonderfully. We teach runes for use in our herbology lessons."

But the most interesting subject Mildred had come across so far was Technomancy. Technomany was the merging of technology, science and magic, and it was achieved using special runes and potions to adapt the technology so then it wouldn't burn itself out as the magical energy flowed into it, as had happened in the past when attempts to combine technology with magic.

"Technomancy is becoming increasingly common in America, Australia, New Zealand and Japan, and it is making headway in the United Kingdom and in other parts of Europe. A relatively new addition to the Craft, Technomancy was invented in the 1960s by a witch who had studied Ancient Runes and Transfiguration. She had wanted to revive Runes, breathe new life into the field, and usher in a new age for the Craft where we, witches and wizards, no longer ignored technology, but have embraced it. One of the reasons why witches and wizards have ignored technology is because we don't need it, but technology can do so much for us and it has so much potential. Technomancy isn't common in the United Kingdom, its only being taught in one or two year courses at magical universities around the country, not at schools and it is one of our most successful classes because of how different it is compared to other subjects."

"Technomancy is a compulsory course at Pentangles. It was introduced to offer something new and creative to our curriculum, and it has worked so far to help inspire students who pass into the classroom and learn new aspects of the study, and because it is such a new subject there is still so much we do not know yet about Technomancy, and like potions hundreds of years ago, which replaced Alchemy, our students have the chance to experiment and seek out new answers to different questions, and to also ask new questions and form their own rules. That's the exciting thing, and our two teachers who run the classes - lower and upper tiers - love to encourage students to learn, to adapt, and to experiment with this new subject."

Reading that page more than anything else excited Mildred because she hadn't realised how much she had missed being creative - her artwork had been the only outlet she had had for her creativity, and now even that was gone, destroyed because of selfish and stupid witches. But Technomancy had tugged at her heartstrings because it would mean learning about a subject which was closer to home.

Mildred didn't know what had happened the mobile phone Hardbroom had confiscated, but she hoped it was in one piece. As she continued to read the Technomancy section in the prospectus, Mildred realised that if the phone was still around then she could turn it into a magical item. She conjured an image of her holding her phone, and using it to cast a number of spells at the same time.

With the image still in her mind, she began flicking through the prospectus until she came across another course Pentangle's taught that she hadn't expected to interest her, but reading the page with polite interest had fascinated her no end. Zac had told her after he and Sapphire had arrived with Miss Pentangle about some of the lessons taught at the school, and while Magical archaeology hadn't really interested her at first, she had made a note of it.

There was once again a note of introduction from Miss Pentangle. "Magic has a rich and varied history throughout the world, some witches and wizards discovered their powers by chance and experimented and had enough imagination to develop their skills beyond all we know. Today we have magical schools to teach us how magic works, but there is still a great deal about the past, we do not know; many artifacts are out there, long forgotten, ancient libraries which contained a wealth of magical knowledge are rumoured to exist in myths and legends, just waiting to be found. But while you might believe the Magical Archaeology class taught at my school is unique, it isn't; this subject has been around for a very long time because many witches and wizards have begun seeking out the deeper mysteries of magic, and bringing them into the modern world to ensure they survive for the benefit of later generations."

"While many of our students may not opt to take this class in college or university, it is still enough to give them the idea of what magic was like in the past - for many witches and wizards, the feats of magic Merlin and Lady Morgana are as much fact as they are fantastic, and the rewards can be amazing. In this course, our instructors will not just give classroom tutorials, but also show how magical archaeology works."

And on it went until Mildred came across the subject that quickly caught her eye as soon as she arrived at the page in question.

Enchanting.

"As I explained in the beginning I had always wanted to become an enchantress, I loved the stories of the old enchantresses, witches and even a few wizards who were capable of not just creating a spell, but bending them to their will. I longed to become one. When I went to my magical school for the first time, I was disappointed and more than a little disheartened to learn not only did they not teach the subject, it was considered to be a dying art that had been replaced with other forms of spell casting simply because they were easier to learn."

"While it may be a dying art in this country and others in Europe, enchanting is still very much alive in Asia and a few African countries, and there is a much cruder version of it being practiced by Native American Indians even to this day, so I brought it back to lessons where it's taught at Pentangles. The subject may be difficult to some, and they may find some parts of the lessons difficult to perform, but the end results can be worth it. Enchanting has dozens of applications, but most of all it can push a witch or wizard into doing miracles with magic that other witches and wizards without any talent in enchanting could spend decades trying to replicate. The enchanting class can help students who have talents that use creativity and imagination, learn how to shape magic the way they wish. As enchanting is uncommon, it is taught in school instead of at home, where conventional lessons like potions and spells are learnt, passed down from parents and other family members to the children."

Imagination and creativity.

Mildred liked the sound of that. She wasn't a stupid girl, but she wasn't the type of person who could solve math questions as easily as people could effortlessly walk from one room to another. No, she preferred subjects that allowed her to use her imagination. Art and crafts were her favorite, but she had made animated videos from YouTube on several occasions, so she understood the internet. But the idea of enchanting appealed to her, but she was unsure if she could even grasp the most simplest lessons.

That was the only thing that worried her about the lessons, well that and the fact that until now she had had no idea what they entailed.

But the best thing about the lessons, in her mind, was unlike other subjects there were a few lessons in the booklet about Pentangles that implied they were taught at school rather than students having the advantage of knowing beforehand thanks to it being taught at home.

As she considered everything she'd just read up, Mildred found herself thinking. For another minute she pictured herself with Miss Pentangle and Zac and Sapphire, but she wasn't watching them, she was one of them, wearing the Pentangle's school uniform.

Mildred shook her head, knowing it was unlikely to happen, so why was daydreaming to herself about wearing the same uniform as Zac and Sapphire?

She sat up and frowned at the uniform she was wearing at the moment.

The gym-slip, grey shirt and stockings and boots with the red sash tied around her waist looked plain and gross next to the smart uniforms Zac and Sapphire sported, and to be honest, she had never liked the ranking system Cackles had with the sashes even though over time it hadn't made any difference.

One thing was becoming clear in Mildred's mind, she might have started out as a Cackle's girl, but she knew she didn't want it anymore.

"I want to be a Pentangle's girl," Mildred whispered.

* * *

Next chapter - The Spelling Bee competition.


	6. Chapter 6 Spelling Bee Oh goody!

Disclaimer - I don't own the Worst Witch, but I love what's being done with it.

Anyway, I hope you're enjoying the story so far.

A/N - There will be a time skip in the chapter, the part where Ethel participates against Zac. The story may be AU, but certain parts of it follows the TV episode.

Spelling Bee…. Oh! Goody.

Ever since this whole mess had started, Mildred had seen a totally different side to Miss Hardbroom, a childish side. But then again, while she liked the woman, she had to admit that Miss Pentangle didn't help matters. Indeed the woman had seemed to take a perverse pleasure in taunting Hardbroom, but before the Spelling Bee started when Miss Cackle came to the potions lab to tell them the competition was about to commence, the pink clad headmistress had been giving Sapphire and Zac another last minute tutorial. Mildred had almost laughed aloud at Miss Pentangle's teasing manner.

Oh, the look in their eyes.

But Mildred didn't personally care about their issues. Ever since she had decided that if she had the opportunity to go to Pentangles, she would take it with both hands, the only problem was she hoped she didn't make the same mistake there as she had with Cackle's. But Mildred had decided to be real - the woman had only taught her once, she wasn't likely to take her back to Pentangle's was she? Now, while it was nice to dream about going to a totally different school, it would still be the same - she would mess up her lessons, cause no end of chaos, and she would be walking on a knife edge that would decide whether she stayed or was expelled.

After getting their cloaks and hats, Mildred and Ethel followed Miss Hardbroom to the hall where the competition would be hosted.

"Ethel, you must take lead in each round. Mildred, you must do absolutely nothing," Hardbroom said desperately before Mildred and Ethel had even approached the room the competition would be taking place in. Mildred had wondered when Hardbroom would turn around and tell her she wasn't meant to utter a word, though she'd guessed during the revision sessions the message would be dropped before it was meant to start.

"Yes, Miss Hardbroom," the two girls chanted in response, though Mildred's reply and the look on her face didn't even hide the contempt she was feeling towards the decision, though truthfully she wasn't surprised.

Mildred knew she wasn't good enough to really take part in the Spelling Bee, but it was their fault for not taking the trouble to teach her, but she had grown used to that. No. The reason Mildred felt nothing but contempt for Hardbroom and the others had nothing to do with the competition, she didn't care about the Spelling Bee in the first place. No, the reason was they had pushed her into the revision sessions with Ethel, putting all of that pressure on her when all along they were wasting her time.

Hardbroom noticed the contempt. Good. But she was too panicky about the Spelling Bee to care about the contempt she could see in the 1st year girl's face.

"This is precisely what happens when you let a girl from a non-witching family to represent the school-" Hardbroom went on, but Mildred had already tuned her out, she'd heard it all before and truthfully she was actually rather bored by the same diatribe. Didn't Hardbroom have anything original to say to her? But she also noticed something Hardbroom and Ethel hadn't noticed - Zac had appeared, also wearing a cloak and hat though his were purple, and judging from his grim features he had heard every word Hardbroom had heard, and was clearly not impressed by any of it.

Soon Miss Pentangle and Sapphire joined him. "My bees are ready," Miss Pentangle said, announcing her presence.

Miss Hardbroom swung around, her eyes glinting dangerously; Mildred was beginning to truly fear for the teacher's mental wellbeing, she was taking all of this way too seriously.

"As are mine," Hardbroom said slowly, emphasising each word as she stood in a position that forced the three visitors from Pentangle's to see the two first years by her side. Mildred wished she could stand a little further away from Hardbroom; who did the teacher think she was to include her in this farce, especially after making a crack about her heritage and telling her that after every single revision session with Ethel, she wasn't going to take part in the entire competition?

Miss Pentangle smiled. "Let the buzzing commence," she said. She swung around once, her magic conjuring a pink cloak over her clothes. Mildred held back the urge to roll her eyes at everyone's need to show off, it was getting ridiculous. But there was something about Miss Pentangle's break from tradition where she wore pink instead of black that appealed to her.

Miss Pentangle offered a bright smile at Hardbroom, but there was something there, Mildred thought. Sadness? That would make sense since Miss Pentangle herself had told her that the pair of them had been close once, but whatever had happened between them Mildred didn't know and frankly didn't care.

Mildred didn't know why she felt nervous when she felt butterflies in her stomach, it wasn't as though she was expected to perform, but she was just grateful the damn thing was happening now. She was beyond caring about who won the stupid trophy this time, though she knew Ethel would still blame her even if she didn't say a word. She was about to follow Ethel into the hall when she was stopped by Miss Hardbroom.

"Mildred, wait a moment," the potions mistress said, and Mildred did as she was told when she heard the soft, hesitant tone in HB's voice and she stood waiting for the woman to get on with it.

"I just wanted to ask you… how you were?" HB asked, practically stumbling over the words as she tried to get them out.

Mildred blinked at her in surprise, she had expected something different from that. "What?" she asked.

Miss Hardbroom rolled her eyes. "I know you were in Miss Pentangle's potion lesson with the Pentangle's students, Mildred, and I know that you enjoyed yourself in that class-"

"It was nice to actually learn potions with someone patient enough to tell me what was what instead of being expected to know the basics," Mildred interrupted, not even about to comment about the implication HB had spied on her, that was just going into territory she genuinely did not want to go into.

"Seriously, why are you doing this now before the competition?" Mildred went on.

Miss Hardbroom had to hold back the urge to punish the girl in front of her for interrupting her when she was speaking, but she knew the girl had a point about why she had chosen to talk about this now before the competition.

"Because, regardless of what you might think, I do care about your wellbeing, Mildred," Hecate replied, though she knew the moment the words were out of her mouth that she had made a mistake.

"You do, do you?" Mildred whispered. "Then why have you spent all of this time harassing and bullying me because I don't come from a witching family?"

It took all of her effort to not shout as memory after memory of the whispers, the taunts, and the put-downs filled her mind. Mildred had genuinely respected Hardbroom, but those days were over. If the woman wanted to be contemptuous towards HER, then she would be contemptuous back. It might be petty, but Mildred didn't care.

"I wanted you to learn magic by yourself, but clearly I shouldn't have used that approach," Hecate replied, hating how weak she sounded.

Mildred sighed, glancing between the teacher and the way to the competition. "Let's just get this over and done with, don't worry - I won't participate during the whole thing. I don't care about the competition and after what you and the rest of the school put me and Tabby through, I find I don't really care about the honour of the school either, and afterwards I will wait for the end of term exams and fail them, then we can go our own separate ways because it's clear the trial was never meant to work out, and you can return to teaching girls from witch families and let me go back to an ordinary school, and we can both pretend this all never happened."

Mildred turned and headed for the competition. If she had paid any attention to Hardbroom, she would have been surprised to see the look of surprise and sadness in the older woman's face.

* * *

Mildred was grateful for the first break before the last round because it gave her plenty of time to think, though that was more or less all she had done since this stupid competition had started in the first place. Ethel had done well, but the last round had gone to Pentangle's - Mildred snorted as she thought about how transparent the crush Ethel had towards Zac was - but truthfully she was content sitting here, brooding until the next and final round, though she did think it said a great deal about how close Miss Pentangle was to her own students when they performed that high five.

She sighed under her breath as she looked around the room that looked more like a storeroom with chairs and lamps added it, it was like they had been in the middle of decorating the place and had given up after putting chairs in.

What am I doing here? Mildred thought to herself despairingly, desperate now to get out of this damn school. She was just so bored, and she wished she had been allowed to bring something to the competition to draw, or even read to speed time up a little bit. She had known that Hardbroom and Cackle would both make sure she didn't have anything to do with the competition, but she had been so wound up with everything happening it hadn't occurred to her. But now she regretted it because she was completely bored.

It was at times like this she missed her mobile - there were some really good games on that phone, and some good music tracks downloaded onto it, but because Hardbroom had taken it off her on her first day at Cackle's and she hadn't gotten it back, Mildred was beginning to wonder if she would ever see the phone again.

Footsteps made her turn around and she saw Miss Pentangle approaching her, though Mildred wondered what the woman wanted from her, but she was going to wait until she spoke before passing judgement. "It's not fun being shunted aside, is it?" the Pentangle's headmistress asked as she came closer before coming to a full stop in front of Mildred

"I don't mind," Mildred replied quietly, "I was kind of expecting them to try to stop me taking part in the Spelling Bee anyway, but it is boring not having anything to do."

Mildred didn't know why she was saying this to a relative stranger, but truthfully she found Miss Pentangle more tolerable than some of the other witches she had met so far. To her surprise, Miss Pentangle looked for a place to sit and sat down on the armrest of a nearby chair. "I take it this is because you don't come from a witching family?"

Mildred looked away angrily, it always came down to that, didn't it? She was thankful now that the end of the year was fast approaching, so then she would be able to go home and not be judged by her heritage or whether or not she had witches or wizards in her family or not.

But if Miss Pentangle was going to say anything about it…

"Don't worry, we have people from all walks of life at my school," Miss Pentangle said quickly when she saw the anger mixed with hurt flash over the girl's features, and she kicked herself for her insensitivity. It made sense she would be angry hearing the same diatribe over and over again.

Mildred looked at her in surprise. "You do?" she asked, wishing she didn't sound so sceptical, but after everything she had been through, everything that had been promised to her, but had ended up being the biggest pack of lies she had seen in her life, she felt she was justified feeling that way.

But she had heard from Sapphire and Zac that students from outside the magical families were allowed to attend Pentangle's, but Mildred had been sceptical then and she was still sceptical now.

Words were just words, and yet it didn't really explain to Mildred why Miss Pentangle would be telling her all of this. What was in it for her, because if she was only doing this to get back at Hardbroom and planned to discard her for being gullible, then it would shatter what was left of her confidence. She would be really disappointed.

Miss Pentangle nodded. "You're the odd one out here, Mildred," she replied, though she wasn't telling the little witch what she didn't already know. "Why not come to a school that's more suited to your gift?"

"You think I have a gift?" Mildred whispered, hating the fact she still sounded disbelieving and sceptical, but she was just so tired with being lied to and used that she was beyond caring. In her experience at Cackles, people said one thing to her and all the time they were lying to her face.

She was sick of it. She only hoped Miss Pentangle wasn't going to join them.

"Ah, from the first moment I saw you," Miss Pentangle chuckled, gazing kindly at her.

"Miss Hardbroom doesn't think so," Mildred replied, unable to hide the bitterness she felt. She had lost all of her respect for the woman after that mess with the trial during that star globe disaster, but it still hurt that the woman who claimed to care about her had no problems putting her down.

"That's because she's set in her ways," Miss Pentangle said, though Mildred detected something in the older witch's voice that said that she hated to say those words. "We're what you would call a modern witches school. And it just so happens we have a scholarship up for grabs."

While Pippa had been saying that she watched Mildred's expression closely. The girl was gaping at her with happiness in her eyes, but then it disappeared as quickly as a candle being snuffed out.

Mildred couldn't believe what she was hearing from the pink clad headmistress. She had been fascinated by Pentangles after seeing the prospectus Zac and Sapphire had given to her, and she had seen herself as a Pentangle's student alongside them, but the thing was she couldn't help but feel there was a catch to it somewhere. What was in it for Miss Pentangle, and more to the point how long would it be before she became just another Ada Cackle, someone who smiled and turned a blind eye to how little she was learning and ignored her good points and focused more on her bad?

She licked her lips. "Why would you do this for me?" she asked quietly, hoping the woman wouldn't lose her temper. "What's the catch?"

Fortunately Miss Pentangle wasn't offended. "No catch. I want to help you Mildred, and besides I think I can guess from your expression that you think the offer of a scholarship is a little too good to be true," she smiled when she saw the girl flush red in embarrassment at being caught, "but it isn't. I want to help you Mildred, you're special, more special than you realise. I'm not like Ada Cackle, Mildred. I take an active role in the teaching of my students, but if you want extra proof I'm telling the truth…" Pippa trailed off as she prepared herself mentally for what she was about to do next even if she had realised earlier she would need to do this, and she placed her right hand on her chest while holding up her left hand and flushing it with magical power. Mildred's eyes widened when she realised where this was going. She opened her mouth to stop the pink clad headmistress, but she was too late.

"I, Pippa Pentangle, do hereby swear my life on the Witches' code, that I am telling the truth to Mildred Hubble about the scholarship to Pentangle's magical academy, this I swear on my life's blood, so mote it be," Miss Pentangle said, and her body glowed as her magic accepted the oath.

Mildred was furious. "How could you do that, just to prove to me you were telling the truth?!" she hissed angrily.

She didn't know a great deal about the Witches' code like the other girls, but she knew enough to know what Miss Pentangle had just done. Magical oaths sworn on the Witches' code were not taken lightly, in fact it was frowned upon because it could be dangerous. If she had said one word, one poorly chosen word, then Miss Pentangle could have died. That was why it was frowned upon.

"I could have killed you because of my mistrust," Mildred went on, her mind not really processing what she was even saying until after she'd said it.

Hearing the distress in the girl's voice made Pippa's heart melt and she pulled the girl into a hug, she couldn't help it. "I knew what I was doing, Mildred," she whispered before pulling back, with a sigh, "I knew I'd have to swear an oath. After hearing how you were given that trial after you dealt with Agatha Cackle on the day of the entrance exam, and how it had fallen apart in the last few days, I can't say I blame you all that much for being sceptical or suspicious about my offer. I've already worked out your plan to leave Cackles at some point, but please give Pentangle's a chance. We're nothing like Cackles - bear in mind, I have just sworn an oath on my life that I'm telling you the truth, but I'd never lie to you anyway."

Pippa went over to the girl and pulled her into another hug before pulling away so she could see into the girl's brown eyes. "Think about my offer, Mildred, and let me know how you feel by the end of the day. I would love to have you as a student, and I know you'd love Pentangle's, but if you don't want to accept then I'll accept that, but don't throw the chance away without giving it some thought, okay?"

Mildred was silent, almost going into a dream world as she considered the conversation. Everything had happened so fast, now she was unsure what to think. But she knew this woman was being truthful and honest with her - if she was willing to risk her life by making an oath like that, then it meant she must be being truthful.

Miss Bat, who was the commentator for the Spelling Bee competition, boomed out over the intercom. "We're ready to start the final round."

Miss Pentangle gently laid a hand on her shoulder. Mildred looked up into the woman's smiling face, and she felt the same sense of familiarity and motherly kindness in this virtual stranger as she felt in her own mother. "You're a really special witch, Mildred. I would love to have you in my school, but it's up to you."

* * *

A/N 2 - Harry Potter fans will recognise the idea of a binding magical oath, but it was the only way I could think of Pippa gaining Mildred's trust since the girl has lost her faith in other witches. But don't be fooled - Mildred will still feel wary in later chapters.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter. The next chapter is where things branch off from where the TV episode ended.


	7. Chapter 7 Mildred's Decision

Just a little chapter on the run-up to Christmas. Enjoy, and please leave feedback.

Mildred's decision.

Mildred sat at the table, still bored but her mind was racing furiously - she was dimly aware of the talk around her, but she didn't pay any attention to any of it. She was busy thinking about the scholarship offer Miss Pentangle had given her earlier - while she had thought it was too good to be true, she knew the woman was telling the truth. The magical oath sworn on the Witches' code had made that clear, there was no way the woman was stupid enough to kill herself. The oath was genuine enough, yet it was so unexpected. Of all the things Miss Pentangle could have done, using a magical oath was not something Mildred would have expected a fully trained and professional witch to use.

But could she go through with it, and would her mother accept the decision? Thinking of her mother made her see another problem she had if she accepted the Pentangles scholarship. Mildred had already considered her mother's reaction to the offer of a scholarship, but the question was would she accept it after the disaster that had happened here at Cackles? Her mother already had a list of things the teachers had said about her, things she had not liked on top of being treated like crap by Hardbroom when the two had met. Would Miss Pentangle be the same? Another thought sprang to mind, would there be a Hardbroom equivalent at Pentangles? The thought nearly made her ill. After having one, she doubted should take another.

While Mildred had been upset she had almost lost the chance of being a witch, it had taken a backseat because of the trial, the star globe, Tabby's injury, the mental abuse she had suffered for a whole day, her friends turning their backs on her. She had been looking forward to just going home by the end of it because she had been so heartily sick and tired of it all.

But the oath Miss Pentangle had given her might have convinced Mildred the witch was telling her the truth, but what about the other students and teachers at Pentangles? Could she trust them in the long run if she did accept the scholarship? She was so deep in her thoughts she almost missed it when someone said her name.

Had she been more observant at that point she would have been able to overhear the talk at the head table where the competition was being presided over by Cackle, Hardbroom, and Miss Pentangle.

Miss Cackle nodded in benevolent approval at the results of the Spelling Bee thanks to Mr Rowan-Webb, and she cast an eye towards Ethel and Mildred. Looking at Mildred, who looked deep in thought and more than a little bored made Ada's heartache. She had hoped before the Spelling Bee came about the relationship between Mildred and everyone else could be healed, but the girl had made it clear she wasn't interested. To make matters worse, she no longer cared about the school. But that was not the girl's fault.

It was their own fault for believing she would somehow thrive under their traditions, but it hadn't worked out, and because of that Mildred had been relegated to a bystander.

"Then let's start the final round," she said when she realised her thoughts were getting the better of her and people would wonder why she was taking so long, and while she smiled encouragingly she made a mental note to try to speak to Mildred, hoping the girl would listen to her.

But she was stopped when Miss Pentangle, who'd been busy thumbing her way through the rulebook of the competition laid a hand on her arm and Ada turned to face the younger witch. "Ah, just a moment, Miss Cackle, I'd like to draw your attention to the rules," Pippa said as she slipped on her pink framed reading glasses, "namely paragraph four, clause five-"

"I am well aware of the rules, Miss Pentangle," Ada gave a nervous laugh even as she held onto her smile as she turned to an equally worried Hecate. Both of them knew what Pippa was getting at.

Mildred needed to participate.

Meanwhile, Hecate was feeling a pit in her stomach at what Pippa was doing. That annoying, interfering woman! Just because she had had the dubious pleasure of hosting Mildred in a potions class she'd taught didn't mean she knew what the girl was like every day. Mildred was hopeless, completely hopeless at the present time, though Hecate knew that if the girl had any interest in being a witch, instead of having the idea of leaving as she did at the moment, then she could do better.

Pippa lifted her head and gazed at the two witches at the table through her glasses. "Well the rules clearly state whoever took part in the penultimate round cannot participate in the final spell," she went on, slipping her glasses off knowing she had won. If there was one thing witches loved, it was rules and regulations, and the best place to find them was in the Witches' code.

But truthfully she was doing it for Mildred. Pippa had noticed that occasionally Ada and Hecate had sent looks towards the dark haired girl, but then she had as well. The girl was clearly bored sitting there in that chair doing nothing unless Ethel handed her a cup for the spells to work, but truthfully Pippa just mentioned the rules to get the girl out into the competition. Pippa didn't care whether or not Mildred won the round or not, all that mattered was she was doing something instead of sitting in that chair, so bored to tears that she would probably jump at the chance to get involved. Zac had told her what Hecate had been saying before she and Sapphire had joined him, and she had been further disgusted by the girl's treatment. What in the name of Morgana Pendragon was Hecate thinking saying all that about Mildred's background, couldn't she see she was making things worse?

Okay, she knew the girl wasn't ready, something that was purely the fault of the teachers at Cackles, but that didn't mean she couldn't try, and for all of the hype about Ethel Hallow being good, the blond girl wasn't perfect either.

Miss Cackle exchanged a worried look with Hecate. "She has a point," she said before she raised her voice and addressed the dark-haired girl.

"Mildred, could you step forward please?" The girl was clearly distracted by something, and so Ethel Hallow gently prodded the girl and made her look up. "Me?" she asked.

Mildred was surprised that she had been asked to take part in the competition - she had become content she would never take part, but truthfully she was just so bored of sitting quietly for so long she was willing to do anything to stave off the boredom.

"And Sapphire, could you do the same?" Miss Pentangle smiled at the only witch student she'd brought with her from Pentangles. While the two student witches stood up and replaced Zac and Ethel, Hecate couldn't resist the chance to get under Pippa's skin. Leaning back in her chair so no one could really hear her, she said, "You're doing this to spite me, aren't you?"

Pippa stiffened at the question, memories filling her of the last days of the friendship she had had with Hecate, and she wondered whether it had been worth it because Hecate certainly didn't think so anymore. But the wording of the question, how Hecate had used the singular word, me, it really annoyed her. Was Hecate really that selfish? Pippa happened to be doing this to help Mildred see she could be a witch after all wasn't the whole point of the competition designed to show the competitors they could do magic?

With Miss Cackle literally in the middle, she said back, "I just remember what it's like to be shunted aside like an old broom."

Moving hastily along before an argument could break out, Miss Cackle said quickly, "Without further ado," she looked between the two girls standing up ready for the spell that would be coming next, "Sapphire, Mildred, I'd like you to perform… the weather spell."

Pippa was happy about that since she knew the book Mildred had been reading the night she had given the girl that doughnut (half of which she'd eaten) had details on the spell and how to perform it, but she also knew it was well within Sapphire's capabilities. But she could hear the mutters around the hall at the choice, Ethel Hallow even facepalming. Didn't they realise that if they had taken the trouble to teach Mildred the basics of potions and spells then maybe she wouldn't be considered the worst witch?

"And the clock starts now," Miss Bat's voice, magically amplified, announced.

Mildred took a deep breath, but she caught the smile that Miss Pentangle set towards her and Sapphire and that more than anything encouraged her, and she realised there and then that she did want to go to Pentangles. She did want the scholarship. She turned quickly to the table, wracking her brain for the memory of the weather spell she'd studied up, hoping that she could remember the potion that went with the spell, all the time her mind trying to remember the incantation. She had spent a lot of time studying the spell - but with everything else, she wasn't sure if it had made a big impact on her memory.

As she and Sapphire worked on the potion in their cauldrons, Mildred began to feel confident as she remembered some of the potion basics she had picked up from that lesson with Miss Pentangle. As she worked she realised that the woman had probably planned for this, but she hoped the woman had done it to prove to her she could be a witch. While she worked Mildred felt her memory of the potion return after being buried for such a short period by other potions, and her confidence grew.

When she had her back to Ethel a few minutes later as she added another ingredient to the cauldron, Ethel hissed. "The slime of a slug, it needs more slime!"

"I know what I'm doing," Mildred hissed back, too busy concentrating to lash out at the girl like she had before; this wasn't the time for any of Ethel's bullying.

"And I'm the Great Wizard-" Ethel said back in a sneering manner, but Mildred hissed back at her when she felt herself close to losing her patience, "If you don't shut up, I might throw this cauldron at your face!"

"No conferring over there," Miss Bat called out, noticing like everyone else the heated exchange. Mildred took a deep breath and carried on with the potion, all the time aware of the interested and curious looks coming from the head table. After she poured a thick purple liquid into the cauldron, Mildred felt confident she'd made it right - if she didn't, she could at least say she'd tried.

Mildred nodded to herself, and she turned around and slapped the hand buzzer- it didn't really buzz, but chimed, but she couldn't find a better name to describe it - thinking how much witches were like non-magical people when it came to competitions.

"What is it, Mildred?" Miss Cackle asked, gazing at her quizzically.

"I think I'm done," Mildred announced, though she wondered why she'd even bothered when she saw the looks of astonishment she could see on all but two of the teachers at the head table. "Are you sure?" Miss Cackle whispered in surprise. Mildred nodded as she stirred the potion with the ladle, keeping her face expressionless - for a woman who wanted forgiveness, you'd have expected her to have a bit of faith. But Mildred guessed it wasn't surprising since her track record with potions was not one hundred percent.

After giving the potion one more stir for luck, Mildred handed the steaming cup over to Ethel, noticing the interested looks on Sapphire and Zac's faces, but Mildred was too busy praying this potion worked; while she had been confident, there was always the possibility of the potion being botched.

Ethel sent her a look that promised pain if something happened to her, but she took a tentative sip of the potion and downed it before handing the cup back to Mildred with a wide look even as the mixture entered her body before she took the cup away from Ethel.

Mildred held up both of her hands and concentrated on the spell, visualising it in her mind as she began to speak the incantation. "See the clouds, as they swarm, bring us an almighty storm."

Nothing happened, and Ethel gave her a dark look of contempt, but a low rumbling sound started up and grew louder, making Mildred look up in wonder as a small grey cloud appeared above Ethel's head, flashing angrily with electric blue bolts of lightning. Ethel looked up, and she became slack-jawed with shock, and she began crying out as the rain began pouring over her.

"Ohhhh! Mildred, Mildred, stop!" Ethel shouted as she began to get drenched.

"As official adjudicator, I am delighted to announce Miss Cackle's Academy are the winners," Mr Rowan-Webb said, nonchalant about the raincloud in the hall drenching Ethel. Everyone cheered - Enid and Maud holding up a banner with Mildred painted on it; while she liked the sentiment, if those two thought she was going to forgive them after what they'd called her, they would be waiting a long time. Over the din, Mildred heard Ethel shout out angrily, "I'm soaked!"

The teachers at the head table began to clap. "Well done, Mildred," Miss Cackle laughed with genuine tears of joy in her eyes. "Who'd have thought you had it in you?"

Mildred bit her lip, feeling more annoyed at that question for only a short moment. If she had needed any more proof none of the teachers here had any faith in her, it was that. She sighed under her breath, but the noise in the room made it impossible for anyone to hear it. Sometimes Mildred felt she could never impress anyone at this school, and it made her wonder how things would be at Pentangles. Mildred spared Cackle and Hardbroom only a basic glance and her eyes flicked over to Miss Pentangle. The woman was giving her an encouraging smile that was more genuine than anything she had seen so far, and the woman winked at her.

Mildred turned to look at Sapphire and Zac, and she was pleased they were taking their loss better than Ethel would have done, and that's when she decided there was no better time to get this over with.

She took a step closer to the head table and addressed Miss Pentangle, and the noise level dropped as the girls realised something unusual was happening. Mildred cleared her throat as the nerves got the better of her, and she addressed Miss Pentangle. "I just wanted to say…..Yes. I accept your offer, one hundred percent."

Miss Pentangle beamed in delight, and she had to stifle her squeal of joy while Miss Cackle and Miss Hardbroom looked between Mildred and Miss Pentangle with bemused expressions on their faces.

"What offer?"

Miss Pentangle looked between Mildred and Miss Cackle, who'd asked the question, but the girl glanced at her and shrugged as if to say it's your call, and she rolled her eyes. "You should be aware, Miss Cackle, that I have offered Mildred a place at Pentangles."

Miss Cackle looked between the little witch and Miss Pentangle in shock, she had hoped to speak to Mildred and try to make up for the damage caused - mental and physical for the wretched star globe, and maybe even give the girl someone to one tutorial to help her get better as a witch. Ada had been made aware of the little talk between Mildred and Hecate, and she had to wonder if her deputy headmistress and longtime friend even had a tactful bone in her body, but Mildred wasn't stupid - she would have known she wouldn't be taking part in the Spelling Bee competition if not for Miss Pentangle's intervention, but Hecate could have worded it better.

"Are you sure you want to transfer to Pentangle's?" Ada whispered, addressing Mildred, feeling pure hurt fill her soul. She had truly come to adore this girl, and she hated what she had become during that trial, and she remembered all the times she had laid eyes on Mildred's tearful face before it became expressionless towards the end of the trial, to when the girl had lashed out at her when she had personally gone to her bedroom to apologise, and came face to face with the destruction of Mildred's bedroom - she had planned to investigate and find out who was responsible, and punish the perpetrators, especially the one who'd attacked Tabby. Unfortunately, the Spelling Bee and Miss Pentangle's presence at the school had taken up a large amount of her time, and she hadn't gotten very far and the trail might have gotten cold.

Mildred nodded. "Yes, I do," she replied, sending a smile towards Pippa that made Miss Cackle a little annoyed. The girl cleared her throat and gently clapped her hands, clearly a little bit nervous about this conversation and smiled brightly. "Well, I think I should get back to my room and get packing," she said and then hurried out of the hall before either Ada or Hecate could utter a word. Ada's eyes followed the small figure as she walked out of the hall, and she sighed as she realised her hopes of getting some form of redemption from Mildred was never going to happen.

Mildred's smile disappeared from her face as she left the hall, letting the facade of happiness drop for a second as she headed for her bedroom, and she took off her hat and stared at the Cackle's badge on it. She would miss the badge, but hopefully when she transferred to Pentangle's she would be happier.

Mildred walked back towards her bedroom, deep in thought and ignored the other girls she encountered on the way, trying hard to push the guilt she was feeling for upsetting Miss Cackle. Despite hating what the woman had done to her, she had to remember that Cackle had brought her into the school when indeed she could just as easily have said, "thank you for dealing with Agatha, but you can't be in this school." Mildred would forever be grateful for the opportunity, but she had been disappointed that while the teachers had given her a chance to shine and develop as a witch they hadn't taken her aside, helped her even when she'd asked and pushed to the side.

But she wondered if she was heading for the same disgusting disappointment with Pentangles. Oath aside, she liked Miss Pentangle but she had liked Miss Cackle, and that had led to a disaster where Mildred had been faced with incredible disappointment and emotional turmoil. But would Pentangle's teachers be any better than Cackles? She had thought Miss Gullet was a nice, fair person at first before she knew any better, and that woman had given her a detention for asking her for help! Had she made a mistake saying yes to Miss Pentangle? What about the other teachers at Pentangles?

Mildred sighed as she wrestled with the dilemma in her mind, and then she remembered her mother. What was her reaction going to be? Julie hadn't been crazy about Cackles, what about Pentangles?

Arriving at her bedroom she looked around the devastated room and smiled when she saw Tabby sitting on the bed comfortably. Mildred picked the cat up and stroked her gently. "Am I making the right decision?" she whispered to the cat.

Tabby mewed quietly, but Mildred was unsure if the cat was telling her she was making the right decision or just meowing at her for the sake of it. Kissing the cat affectionately on the head and putting him back down on the mattress, she got up and started to pack. It was time to go.

* * *

Please tell me what you think.


	8. Chapter 8 Meetings

I can't wait for the new season of the Worst Witch. I don't own it of course, but hey you can't have everything.

* * *

Meetings.

While Mildred was in her bedroom hoping for the best, Pippa Pentangle was in the head's office with Miss Cackle and Hecate. The pink-clad headmistress had been dreading this meeting if she were honest with herself. Ada had handed her Mildred's student file and Pippa was perusing it with a trained eye, and she knew that if another headmistress from a different school had offered Mildred a place and had seen the file, then that headmistress would have handed it back and forgotten the whole thing. They would consider Mildred a lost cause, but Pippa was not one of those people.

Many witch school headmistresses looked for students who would be perfect for their school, and that meant a witch trained in the traditional, classical way, but Mildred didn't have that training, and her grades were appalling, but Pippa didn't hold that against her. She was different from other headmistresses because she had quite a few students from non-magical families in her school, and when she'd been younger she had met quite a few of them who had not had an easy time learning magic.

Mildred had her good points, definitely, but as she read the grades and the notices in her file delivered by various teachers, Pippa could tell that while some teachers were willing to give the girl the benefit of the doubt, they had been frustrated with the girl's lack of focus and attention. Pippa was disappointed that in flying class Mildred almost been failed, and the notes Hecate left really upset her but they also confused Pippa as well. It was clear that although Hecate believed Mildred had something, she was just too set in her ways and was inflexible. There were some really nasty criticisms about Mildred's first flying class, especially about the girl's ignorance of the scoring structure - but of course, she would be ignorant, because she had never flown a broomstick, and it shouldn't have been a surprise at all when the girl crashed. Pippa ground her teeth together angrily as she made a mental note to make sure Mildred received better tuition when it came to broomstick flight. Finally, she put the file on the desk.

"Why didn't you take her aside and help her, give her one to one tuition, and don't give me that talk about how witches help themselves, because Mildred would never have known about that little aspect of our culture unless someone told her," Pippa began, "because from where I am sitting right now I get the feeling no one in this school wanted that girl to succeed. You could have seen that the code doesn't really apply to her."

"Miss Pentangle, that isn't true," Miss Cackle sighed tiredly. She had been running everything through her mind over and over as she had tried to think about everything that had happened. "I think the problem is we are used to teaching girls from witching families, and as a result, we have no knowledge or practical training in how to deal with girls like Mildred."

"Then maybe its a good idea for you to start, because sooner or later you may have other girls from non-witching families in your school, and you need to start realising you can't go on thinking they will just adapt and know everything about broomstick flying, because I can tell you straight if you don't, you'll have more crashes because you didn't bother to tell the girls about the brooms, about the spells placed on them, etc," Pippa replied.

She didn't like doing this to the older witch, she respected Ada Cackle, but in the last couple of days, that respect had been eroded when she had seen the state of Mildred's education. She sighed and turned to a still quiet Miss Hardbroom. Her old friend had been quiet for the last hour, but Pippa knew from her expression she was trying to work things out. Pippa also hoped she had been listening to what she'd been saying about admitting other girls from non-magical families, but she knew Hecate had been paying attention.

"I'd also rethink your stance, Hecate," she said, using her old friend's name freely; she didn't care if Hecate didn't like it or not. "I had a good look in that file, and I didn't like the comments you put down in it. Mildred crashed the broom, yes, but so do witches and wizards who are older; everyone makes mistakes, you expect perfection all the time. But in her case, you seem to have forgotten that Mildred never knew anything about magic beyond the fairy stories that are told in the non-magical world. Why didn't you take her aside whenever she didn't perform well in potions, and give her a bit of help?"

Hecate didn't like it when people criticised her teaching practices. "Do you think your school can help her?" she countered back.

Pippa's pink cheeks flushed red angrily. "I think so, yes," Pippa replied before she decided to lay her cards on the table. "During the competition, I invited Mildred into a potions tutorial I was hosting with Zac and Sapphire."

Ada's mouth dropped open. "What? But that's against the rules of the Spelling Bee-"

"Sometimes rules are just a guide, and besides she looked fascinated by the class so I gave her a chance."

Hecate sighed. "I found out about the tutorial before the Spelling Bee, Ada," she explained, much to the headmistress's shock. "One of the girls saw it, but by the time I found out about it, the competition was already beginning."

Ada wanted to be angry, but she shook her head. The Spelling Bee was over, Cackles had won this round, but their winner had just agreed to a transfer to the rival school. "What was the lesson like?" she asked instead.

Pippa hoped Miss Cackle didn't do something she would regret later. "It was insightful," she replied, "Mildred truly wants to be a great and capable witch, but she needed a lot of help to excel. She needs time to develop some knowledge of potion basics - brewing, cutting, preparing the ingredients, things like that, but she is only incapable if no one actually takes the time to give her advice. The potion wasn't perfect, but it was a good effort in my mind. And besides, the best way to learn magic, in my opinion, is to make mistakes so you can do better."

Hecate wasn't sure why she was feeling a touch of jealousy at this news. "A good philosophy," she commented.

Pippa glared at her. "Do you know what frustrates me the most? I have been teaching witches and wizards for a long time, but I've met people from non-magical families long before I became a teacher. One of them is one of my most trusted teachers now, and she is one of the tutors in my school. She has helped me shape the way magic is taught at Pentangles towards those from families out of our world. But I have offered scholarships to no more than 30 different students from the same background as Mildred Hubble ever since Pentangles' opened, and I have seen the same thing over and over again - poor at potions, unable to fly, absolutely terrible at spells….. And it is just so frustrating because none of you can see that you're causing more harm than good. I visited Mildred in her bedroom not long before the competition and we got talking. Didn't it ever occur to any of you to tell that girl what the Craft actually is?'

Pippa shook her head and unloaded everything she had learnt about Mildred since her arrival. "She doesn't know anything about our greetings except the most basics, no teacher has bothered to teach her how to properly cast a spell, and she knows next to nothing about potion basics. The only reason the potion tutorial I gave her worked out is that I knew what I was dealing with, but I am so frustrated because you knew she was struggling here. I have seen this before, Miss Cackle, Hecate," Pippa said, addressing both women at the same time, and using Hecate's first name and not really caring about the woman's feeling. "I just wish it hadn't happened like this."

Ada Cackle was trying hard not to feel angry about the criticisms she was getting from this woman, but she remained silent because she knew Pippa was right. They had made so many mistakes where Mildred was concerned. She didn't want to make any more. Ada loved being headmistress, and she loved her school and the students inside, but she had to admit they had made mistakes.

"You're right," she whispered. "We made many mistakes; we thought Mildred would adapt, go looking for the knowledge of how to become a witch. The knowledge is in our library, but we never told her where to look. But we can learn. Just tell us what to do…."

* * *

One of the advantages of having your room trashed and your possessions almost destroyed was it was so easy for you to pack what you had left, so it wasn't long before Mildred was ready. Unfortunately, she was disturbed when she was once more focused on finding her things that had survived the destruction of the bedroom by a knock on the door.

Mildred wondered who it was, though she had a good idea. "Yeah?" she called.

The door opened and standing in the doorway, looking like she was about to wring her hands out of nerves, was Maud. Behind her, and not looking any better, was Enid. Mildred hadn't really paid much attention to her former friends - the still too fresh memory of the trial and what they had said to her face before Felicity found that stupid globe had put her off, but their pathetic attempts to invite her to sit down after she'd found out she was going to be in that stupid competition had been too soon in Mildred's mind.

"Are you really leaving?" Maud got out.

Mildred blinked at the question, but she nodded her head. "Yeah," she replied.

Maud sniffed, clearly trying to hold back tears. "But why?"

Mildred hoped her face wasn't showing her own doubts about Pentangles, her inner fears the place was no better than Cackles. "I'm struggling here. You both know about the trial, well I'm convinced it was never meant to work, no matter what I did. But the Star globe clinched it, well look around you - do you really think I want to spend time with that?" she pointed at the graffiti scrawled on the wall.

Enid shuddered as she remembered she herself had called Mildred a non-witch freak. "Do you think Pentangle's will be any better?"

"Miss Pentangle persuaded me it was."

"How?" Maud persisted.

Mildred had no intention of mentioning the oath to these two. "She just did, anyway what is it you two wanted?" Mildred asked, hoping the change in subject would make these two get to the point though she made sure her tone made it clear to them she was unwilling to pursue the topic any more.

The look Maud and Enid shared with each other spoke louder than words, they both knew something had gone on between her and the Pentangle's headmistress, but they realised it was hopeless to get anything more out of her.

"Mildred, we're sorry about what happened," Maud whispered, risking a hopeful look at Mildred, though her hopeful smile faded somewhat when she saw the dark look in her friend's face, and she shivered. She had never seen Mildred look so unforgiving before.

"Really sorry," Enid went on, just as worried as Maud was about the unforgiving glare on Mildred's face. It looked so out of place for a girl as nice as Mildred. "We shouldn't have done that to you, but the spells on the Star globe made us lash out-"

"I already know about the spells on the globe," Mildred said quietly, smiling inwardly at their looks of surprise. "I found out, and I know that the spells take what's already there in the mind. I knew you two were frustrated by me sometimes, but I hadn't thought it was that bad," she added, rubbing her face tiredly with a sigh.

Maud and Enid glanced at one another as Mildred suddenly went quiet and adopted a more thoughtful stance. But it didn't last long. "When the pair of you called me a non-witch freak, I saw you two as Ethel and Miss Hardbroom, the two people in this school who have put me down, but all three of us have been in the thick of trouble so many times," Mildred began to laugh as she remembered the shenanigans. "When the pair of you insulted me, and the trial was on you two added your own thoughts on what should happen to me, I just wanted to crawl away to a dark corner and die."

Enid and Maud looked at each other again, this time feeling worse than before. Maud herself wanted nothing more than to go to her bedroom, and scream and shout herself hoarse for what she'd done. This was the second time she had caused problems between herself and Mildred and Enid - the first time with the Forgetting powder had been a close call, one where Mildred had come dangerously close to expulsion, but this time she felt violated for what the Star globe had done to her mind.

Mildred Hubble was one of the most frustrating people she had ever met but she had never imagined that frustration coming out in such a manner, but what truly worried the bespectacled girl was how that frustration had become hatred. It had shown Maud a side of herself that she had not liked, and she remembered feeling that a part of herself had been locked away, a little voice screaming at her that Mildred would never have stolen the Star globe.

Part of her was tempted to go to Felicity's and get her to send the damn thing home, but that wasn't likely to help now, was it?

"I felt odd when we had that little….. meeting," Maud decided to confess, whether it would help repair her friendship with Mildred, she didn't know - it was clear there was nothing she or Enid could say to change her mind about the transfer to Pentangles; Maud had heard good things about the school when she was growing up, but because of the relationship her family had had with Cackles, there was no way Maud was ever going to attend the school.

Mildred looked at her quizzically. "What do you mean?"

Maud didn't know how she was going to say this without sounding like a lunatic, but if she wanted to make some sort of peace with Mildred then she had better just say it. "When you called us, I was all for giving you a chance to talk and maybe even offer some help, but the moment I saw you the red mist descended and I just grew angry."

Mildred was about to say that that did not justify what she'd done, but Enid nodded her agreement. "I felt the same way, and when I called you a freak, I wanted to throw up."

Mildred didn't look convinced, but she licked her lips hopefully. "Maybe we could, I don't know, be friends again?" She couldn't believe the words as they tumbled out of her mouth.

She decided to be tentative. True, she had no intention of being as close to these two as she had been before, but she didn't want these two to be guilty all of their lives and it wasn't in her nature to hold a grudge.

"But you would be at Pentangles," Maud argued.

"Mirror call," Mildred reminded her, wondering why Maud hadn't thought of that. Inwardly she was wondering if she was making a mistake giving these two a second chance, but they had not gone to extremes like others had done during that unholy disaster, but their actions had still caused Mildred a lot of grief.

No. She wasn't going to give them a second chance.

She was going to be very tentative with these two, and while it did upset her things had led to this, she was thankful for the opportunity to try to make things better. Besides by mirror call, the distance between them would be reinforced.

"Oh, right," Maud said sheepishly, making Mildred shake her head. For someone who was bright and did her best to be the absolute goody two shoes of the class, Maud could so dense.

There came another knock, and the three girls turned in the direction of the door, puzzled. "Yeah?" Mildred called out, wondering if it was Miss Pentangle or one of the two Pentangle students - she hoped it was so then Maud and Enid could be put at ease if they actually spoke to them; she had no idea and didn't particularly care how Pentangles' were being viewed by her soon to be ex-schoolmates, but she just wanted to leave Cackles now.

But it wasn't Zac or Sapphire. It wasn't even Miss Pentangle.

It was Esmerelda Hallow.

And she looked…..sheepish.

"Do you mind if I come in?" she asked.

Mildred didn't particularly want to speak to Esmerelda, but she nodded nonetheless. "What do you want?" she asked curtly, remembering the way this girl had acted before and during the trial, and how she had inadvertently set Ethel off. In the past Mildred had liked Esmerelda even though they weren't really close, admiring the girl from afar, but now she wanted little to do with the older girl.

Esmerelda swallowed. "I have a confession to make, Mildred," she began, "it was me."

Mildred blinked in confusion, wondering what Esmerelda was talking about. "What do you mean, it was you?" she asked.

Esmerelda swallowed. "I was the one who injured Tabby, but it wasn't deliberate-"

"You injured my cat?" Mildred interrupted, unwilling to believe what she'd just heard. Maud and Enid looked at each other, both of them surprised that Esmerelda Hallow, of all people, would have done something like this.

"It wasn't deliberate-"

"You injured my cat, left him in here in pain for god knows how long, and you're telling me it wasn't deliberate? Do you even have any idea how much pain he was in, but since I'm a 'non-witch freak' as you and most of the school so imaginatively call me, it doesn't matter does it? DOES IT?!" Mildred screamed at the end, feeling the red mist descend, and she glanced at Tabby. The poor cat had quickly wriggled down in the covers, Mildred didn't know if it was because he distantly remembered Esmerelda or if it was because of the way she was acting, but she didn't care.

Esmerelda gulped at the sudden anger on Mildred's face. "I was with a few others who trashed your room, Mildred," she whispered, hoping that the quietened tone would keep the girl from interrupting her a third time. "As soon as I saw Tabby, I just went for it, before I knew what was happening. You are not the only one who was affected by the globe going missing, Mildred. And frankly its a bit childish of you to think you're the only one who's hurt. How do you think my friend's feel?"

Mildred had been listening to Esmerelda's argument, and while she felt a bit ashamed by the way she had been acting, she felt justified now with just how disgracefully Esmerelda was trying to assume the moral high ground. What really made her angry was how this so-called brilliant girl was arrogant enough to tell her about her emotional state when her own younger sister used bullying as a means to cover up her own problems.

"I don't care about your friends," she replied, "I already know about the spells those stupid globes have on them to prevent them from being stolen but doesn't justify the harm they do whenever someone gets the wrong end of the stick whenever they go missing."

Maud licked her lips. "Why didn't you tell anyone?"

Esmerelda glared at her, but it was a half-hearted glare. "Why do you think? When the globe reappeared, it was like waking up from a long nightmare - I have never had a problem with you, Mildred, even if you have caused my sister problems, and I felt sick about what I did with Tabby. I have spent the last few days since trying to muster the courage to tell someone what I did. I also planned to go to Miss Cackle and tell her, I still do. It's against the Witches' code to harm a familiar. I know it means nothing now, but I am so sorry."

Maybe her streak of forgiveness was raising its head again, but Mildred believed Esmerelda. The way she was speaking, and the way she protested convinced Mildred she was telling the truth, and besides it rang true in her mind - Esmerelda Hallow and her sister were not extreme enough to deliberately cause pain to a cat.

Not for the first time Mildred wished she had bothered to really study the stupid Witches' code so she could know the ins and the outs of the witching world, but she wondered what the punishment would be for Esmerelda's attack on Tabby, and a part of her suspected that was partly the reason why Esmerelda hadn't confessed what she had done. The Witches' code. Mildred had to close her eyes so then no one in the bedroom could see the contempt in her eyes - her mother had skimmed through the code, but she hadn't. Mildred didn't have a problem with rules in the normal world because she understood the culture, but in the witching world there seemed to be nothing but rules, and most of them were incredibly depressing. Mildred had tried a few times to read the code book, but most of the concepts of the code were so boring and pointless that she hadn't bothered to truly understand it.

While Mildred genuinely believed Esmerelda was telling the truth about not meaning to truly hurt Tabby, she was disgusted with the way the girl hadn't admitted it sooner. Fuck the Witches' code. Who cared about some stupid set of rules?

"Hmm-hmm," A quiet voice announced Miss Pentangle's presence before the pink-clad witch appeared in the room, looking at Esmerelda with unhidden contempt and disgust. "Esmerelda Hallow, I presume? I have heard of you - one of my students competed against you last year and said you were fantastic, but you have a lot to learn. Go to your headmistress and tell her what you did to Mildred's familiar."

Esmerelda fled the room quickly, but not before she sent one last regretful look at Mildred. The dark haired girl watched the tall blond practically run out, and she sneered at little bit, disgusted by how cowardly Esmerelda was acting. So much for being head girl. She turned to Miss Pentangle.

"What will Miss Cackle do to her for breaking the code?" she asked curiously.

Maud and Enid exchanged a look, now worried about Mildred's attitude. They had seen the sneer on Mildred's face and the contempt that had been there for a second as Esmerelda had left the room. Both of them were just as surprised and horrified by Esmerelda's actions, but wasn't Mildred taking it a bit too far?

Miss Pentangle had also noticed the sneer and the disgust on Mildred's face, but she knew it had been aimed at Esmerelda Hallow, and she herself felt nothing but contempt for what Esmerelda had done to Tabby. "I don't know," she said honestly. "Ordinarily the punishment for harming the familiar of another witch would be imprisonment for a month or two, but the mind-altering spells of a Star globe makes it difficult for me to know if the punishment would still be the same."

Mildred nodded. Personally she wasn't even sure if it made any difference, and besides she didn't see the point in Esmerelda being punished for something that was out of control, but what she really did not like was how Esmerelda had just waited until the last minute to make her confession - Mildred didn't know who had trashed her room, but she had a good idea it was the girls in Esmerelda's year.

Miss Pentangle spared Maud and Enid an interested glance before sending a quick look over at her new student at Pentangles. Smiling a little she flicked her hand and a small ornately rimmed mirror appeared in her hands and she passed it over to Maud.

"Pentangles' doesn't have as stringent a mirror calling policy as Cackles," she explained to the two girls, "but students are expected to concentrate on their work. But in each bedroom the students have a mirror installed. It's one of the privileges a student possesses, but it is also obvious that if that student stepped out of line the mirror would be removed from the room and stored away, and that student would be banned for as long as we teachers deem proper from using the mirrors in the school."

The three eleven-year-olds in the bedroom had to admit it was a nicely balanced system. The mirrors in the bedroom would allow the students to call home whenever they wanted without having to stand outside a room with only a single mirror for ages at a time, but the idea of the punishment being taking the mirror away certainly seemed fairer.

Maud bit her lip as she glanced from Miss Pentangle to Mildred. She still didn't understand why Mildred had accepted a scholarship to go to a school which may or may not be better than Cackles. Miss Pentangle saw the look and realised what the bespectacled girl wanted.

"Mildred, do you want to wait with Zac and Sapphire with your things and your cat?" Miss Pentangle said. "I need to sort out a few more things, okay? I'll transport you."

Mildred smiled and picked up her cat and her things, and she disappeared in a flash of light when Pippa flicked her hand in her direction, leaving the Pentangle's headmistress with her former friends.

Pippa sighed and she waved her hand and a chair appeared out of thin air. Another flick and two more chairs appeared. "Alright, what is it you wanted to know?" she asked Maud.

Surprised Maud glanced at Enid, unsure of what to say. Enid just shrugged her shoulders.

Pippa lost patience for a second. "You clearly want to know something, and it has to do with Mildred. What is it?"

Realising that she was irritating a clearly powerful witch, Maud spoke up. "Why did you offer Mildred a scholarship?" she asked as boldly as she could.

Pippa sighed. She had planned to tell this story to Mildred and to Julie Hubble when she met the single parent to tell her about the scholarship, but she had wanted the girl to realise that she was being sincere.

"You were both Mildred's friends, right?" she began, deciding to start with the basics.

"Yes," Maud replied, wincing at the past tense.

Pippa sighed again. "I am going to tell Mildred and Miss Hubble this story later, and hopefully they will accept it, but basically why did neither of you help Mildred when she needed it?"

"We did help her," Enid replied, trying to sound defiant, but knowing she didn't have the right to be defiant. "But the problem was we had our own studies to take care of, and because the code says that witches must help themselves."

Maud looked down, shaking with hatred, hatred towards the Witches' code for being so cold blooded.

Pippa nodded. "The Witches' code," she muttered to herself, though it was obvious she did it deliberately to be overheard, "stupid rules cause more problems than it solves."

Both girls glanced at each other, surprised - apart from Agatha and Miss Gullet, they had never encountered a witch who ignored the code before.

Using that weird and uncanny ability to read minds, though truthfully she was reading their body language, Pippa chortled. "Oh no, I don't ignore the code. Far from it. When I was younger I followed the code like it was the gospel truth, and then it fell apart."

"What happened?" Enid asked curiously.

Pippa gave a soft smile, but it was tinged with sadness. "A friend of mine came from a non-witching family," she said simply. "That was the first time I had ever met someone who came from outside our community, but I became friends with her. I was 16 when I met her. She was brilliant," Pippa closed her eyes in remembrance before the memories were tinged with sadness again. "She was a good friend, she made me laugh and we both got up to mischief. But like so many others I gave her the barest amount of help. I was too young to realise that she had no idea of how the Witches' code made it clear witches are supposed to help themselves when it obvious to me, but I did try to help her. She was in the eyes of everyone in the school completely useless - she was bad at spells and potions, and she was terrible at flying, but its little wonder because no one truly bothered to help her. I managed to give her some help when it came to flying, but I only gave her the barest minimum of help. Sound familiar?" Pippa asked, smiling slightly and doing her best not to sound patronising, but these two were what she had been years ago. "Anyway, she managed to last at the school for another year before she just left. There was no notification, no letter. Nothing. I tried sending a mirror call, but she just told me she wanted to get her life back on track. I haven't spoken to her since."

Pippa looked down into her hands. "But that shaped the way I saw people from the non-magical world. I realised the old traditions of witches and wizards help themselves was meaningless, and it wasn't until I met another witch from a non-witch family I made plans to change that. When I founded Pentangles, I told the Great Wizard himself about what I'd seen; whenever the Great Wizard encounters a girl or boy from outside our world, he hopes for them to prove themselves, but truthfully he doesn't really care who is brought into a magical school except that they can keep the Craft going for a long time to come. He gave me special permission to arrange for girls and boys to be given scholarships and placements in my school to help them become proficient at magic."

Maud was impressed. "It sounds a bit controversial," she commented.

"It is. The reason the Great Wizard was amazed and annoyed by Mildred coming to this school was that Cackles has long since been a traditional witch school, but Mildred isn't a traditional student, but there is little he could do about her place here. In any case, if it hadn't been for the letter sent to him detailing her problems here, I doubt he would have bothered coming here at all," Pippa said.

Enid felt she was beginning to understand. "So you invited Mildred to go to your school to make up for that girl at your old school?"

"Yes, pretty much but there is more to it than that. I have been making up for it for a very long time, but also because I know that people from non-witch families can be better than what others believe them to be. I also think they're special," Pippa replied.

Maud and Enid shared a look. They were both impressed by the lengths Miss Pentangle was willing to go for her students who came from outside their world. Both girls had learnt a major lesson today about non-magical students, and they had both learnt thanks to Miss Pentangle the code wasn't perfect though they'd already known that, but they didn't know if it was too late for them to correct that mistake.

"Will Pentangles be better for her?" Enid asked, feeling as if this whole mess was a dream.

Pippa nodded. "Most of the curriculum is designed to support students from non-magical families while continuing to guide students from traditional families," she replied. "We're a more modern magical school, and as much as many people would like to claim otherwise, magic and the Craft are changing. And there are dozens of subjects at my school which are not traditionally tutored at home, and Mildred might regain some of her confidence in them."

* * *

Mildred had a brave face on though everyone could tell that the girl was truly nervous about what was about to happen. In her mind, she was still unsure about how this transfer and scholarship was going to go. She stood chatting with Sapphire and Zac, and as much as Mildred wished they hadn't they had more or less taken the place of Maud and Enid. She might have offered them a chance to restore their friendship to a more tentative one, but she didn't want to replace them so soon.

But she quickly came to realise the two Pentangle's students weren't trying to take Maud and Enid's place like she had initially feared. When it came to leaving the school for the last time, Mildred was surprised. Every single member of the student body was in attendance and she bit her lip hesitantly, surprised that everyone was here.

Miss Cackle stood with Miss Hardbroom and the other teachers, all of them looking sad she was leaving. Mildred felt a little bit regretful about her attitude even if they deserved it for what they'd done, but she hadn't wanted Miss Cackle to get this upset with her leaving. But before Mildred or the teachers could say anything, Maud and Enid stepped forwards hesitantly, both of them crying. The three girls stood in front of one another awkwardly. Pippa, who had dropped in on the scene, could tell that despite their truce, things were still tense.

Finally, Mildred opened her arms and both girls instantly leapt into her embrace, almost making Mildred fall to the ground with the force of the impact. Everyone closely watching could see Mildred whisper something to them before they pulled back. Miss Cackle stepped forwards hesitantly.

"I'm truly sorry it hasn't worked out, Mildred," the elderly headmistress said apologetically.

Mildred bit her lip but kept silent. She could see Miss Cackle wanted to say more, and besides, she wanted to hear what else the older witch had to say before she left.

"Everything that's happened, its made me realise we," Cackle gestured to the other teachers, "need to rethink our teaching style."

Mildred's eyes widened in surprise. Did Cackle just imply what she thought? That they would be bringing in other girls from non-magical families?

Miss Cackle looked hesitantly at Mildred for a moment before she gently but firmly pulled the girl into a hug. Mildred was surprised but she surrendered into the older witch's embrace. She had been so prepared to continually loathe what the woman had said and done to her during that mess of a trial. She would probably never forgive the woman for the pain heaped onto her shoulders and for shattering her dreams of becoming a witch until Miss Pentangle had come along, but she would be thankful to Ada Cackle nonetheless for showing her the life of the witches. It came to pulling away, Mildred found herself welling up at the sight of the tears in Ada's eyes, but fortunately, the older witch had enough control to not burst out crying.

Miss Hardbroom also seemed to be trying not to cry, but unlike Ada she didn't say a word, she just nodded at Mildred.

* * *

After the awkwardness, Mildred joined Miss Pentangle, Zac and Sapphire and flew away from Cackles. As she left the school for the last time, Mildred felt sad. She had loved this school before everything had turned out wrong. Now she was leaving for a different school, and while Miss Pentangle was nice and a bubbly person to know, Mildred still didn't know what life would be like.

Her melancholy did not go unnoticed by Pippa. The pink-clad witch flew alongside Mildred, wondering what she could say to the girl to make her feel better.

"How do you feel?" Pippa whispered. Mildred, who hadn't even known the Pentangle's headmistress (her new headmistress, she corrected herself), was right next to her, swung her head around so fast Pippa was afraid the girl had gotten whiplash.

"I-I dunno, I mean, after everything they did, I still loved the school even if I was going to leave it, I can't explain it," Mildred replied.

Pippa smiled. "You don't have to," she replied kindly.

She wasn't surprised that despite everything she had planned, Mildred still felt sad about leaving the school. Mildred was not one of those girls who would turn her back and be angry all the time, but she wasn't the type to give instant forgiveness. It said a lot about the girl's character that she would be willing to partially forgive her ex-friends and give them a second chance, not to mention allow Ada Cackle a chance to hug her.

"Try to focus on the good times," she went on, "try to stay positive."

Mildred nodded and smiled at her.

It wasn't a long flight but the three witches and one wizard were all grateful to arrive at Pentangles. Mildred winced herself as she hopped off her broomstick, noticing idly that all three of the Pentangles contingent were more or less okay, though a bit travel worn. Pushing the aches from flying on a broomstick for hours, Mildred looked at Pentangles for the first time.

There were dozens of pictures of the school in the prospectus Zac and Sapphire had given her after their headmistress had returned to the school to pick one up, but the photographs themselves didn't prepare her for the real thing.

Pentangles was located in a thickly wooded area, but like Cackles, there was a wide open space where the students could practice their flying or play games in the air. It seemed a prerequisite of all magical schools to be located in wooded areas, but there was a sense of logic there since Mildred had joined several of her classmates in the woods near Cackles, foraging for ingredients for potions. But Pentangles was as different to Cackles as her flat was different to a penthouse. The school itself was quite large, not as large as Cackles castle was, but unlike her old house, this school seemed to be a cross between a castle and a mansion with a few resemblances to that of a conventional house.

There was a massive courtyard out the front, but there was little to indicate that the building was just that, a school. There were a few students who were milling about talking with one another, and at the sight of their pink-clad headmistress, the students of various ages cheered happily at her arrival.

Mildred followed quietly behind Zac, Sapphire and her new headmistress, but Zac and Sapphire weren't having it. Both of them fell into a step alongside her. "This is your school now, Mildred," Zac said.

"It will be okay," Sapphire whispered with her trademark smile.

Mildred tried to smile back, but she was so nervous. She had seen some of the speculative looks from the students a few of the adults who were probably the teachers at the school. Up ahead she could see Miss Pentangle speaking to a few of them, and it was clear they were speaking about her since she was still dressed in her old Cackles uniform because she didn't have any other clothes, and sending looks back her way.

Zac and Sapphire showed her the broom locker. It was basically an indoor version of the broom shed at Cackles, but it was in one of the doorways that led into Pentangles. Strangely enough, the broom locker reminded her of the cloakroom at her old primary school - it was basically like a conservatory - in the school and yet not in the school. Once her broomstick was safely inside, Mildred followed Zac and Sapphire into the school.

Like Cackles, Pentangles seemed to emphasise the past, but the corridors were much lighter than those at Mildred's own school. The walls were stone, painted white to take advantage of the natural light pouring into the corridors. That was certainly an improvement - sometimes the corridors at Cackles reminded her of a spooky haunted house. The floors were a rich purple colour to give the place a bit of warmth. It was a darker shade than what the students themselves wore.

A little bit meekly Mildred followed Zac and Sapphire as they took her on a small tour of the school.

* * *

"So what happened at Cackles, Pippa?" Karen Miller, her deputy headmistress asked while other teachers crowded around her.

"We lost the Spelling Bee, but we gained a student," Pippa smiled.

Karen blinked in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"Do you remember hearing that news Cackles has taken a non-magical student on? Well, that's her," Pippa explained.

"You gave her a scholarship?" Karen nodded. She was from a non-magical family herself, and she remembered how hellish it had been for her to learn how to become a witch. It had taken a long time for her to adapt to the environment at her first magical school. She had been in a version of hell because none of the teachers or the students had taken the time to help her. God knew how Mildred had coped. Back then there hadn't been a scholarship at Pentangles that could've helped her, so she'd been forced to adapt and get better.

"I had to," Pippa sighed. "Maybe if Mildred hadn't been accused of stealing a Star Globe and the spells on the stupid thing hadn't caused her friends to react badly, she might have said a polite no."

"A Star Globe. I've heard of them, but I've never seen one, though I have heard they can drive people mad," Karen observed.

"Yeah well, Mildred was definitely on the receiving end; it was horrible, Karen, she'd been put on trial and everything. She had been forced to endure a day of total misery when all the time the teachers and students were preparing a trial, but it was less to do with the globe and more to do with Mildred's misdemeanours. We've got our work cut out for us," Pippa finished grimly.

Karen sighed as she realised what her longtime friend meant. Karen had met Pippa a long time ago on a teacher training course and the pair had hit it off, especially since Pippa had given her a job. But because of her own memories of what had happened at her old school, Karen had understandably come to pity any girl or boy from non-witch or wizard families who came into the magical world.

They were isolated and very few of them recovered from the rampant prejudice, but after a while they adapted and learnt about magic, using their experiences to learn from their mistakes and move on. But sometimes they returned, their hopes of being accepted reduced to bitter disappointment. Karen didn't blame them. But she did worry about what they endured from their families if they did return - would they even have a home, would they have an education?

"How bad?"

Pippa sighed. "Cackles academy is a traditional school, and that means the teachers, while willing to guide and nurture their students are unwilling to help a girl like Mildred. Before we left Ada Cackle admitted to her mistakes, hinting she plans to find other girls from non-magical families, but whether she has learnt from her mistakes I don't know. I watched as Hecate Hardbroom made it almost impossible for Mildred to learn potions."

Karen nodded. "Understood," she whispered, her mind turning to her own potions mistress. The woman had not been nice to her as a child, in fact, she had been degrading and rude. But so too had several of her teachers. "Do you want me to personally tutor her?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Pippa was looking around, "it seems Sapphire and Zac have taken her on a tour of the school, but I need to speak to Mildred's parent and tell her about the scholarship."

Karen closed her eyes in exasperation. "Pippa," she sighed.

"I know, I should have told her, but hopefully she won't say anything about kidnapping," Pippa replied, cursing herself for being careless. "Anyway, I'd better go and find her."

* * *

Mentally willing herself away, Pippa tracked Mildred, Zac and Sapphire to one of the empty classrooms - the charms classroom. Pippa loved the classroom because it appealed to her inner desire to become an enchantress. Enchanting and charms were deeply intertwined. The room, like the rest of Pentangles, was a mix of purple and other colours, but there were floating baubles in the air suspended by a permanent spell cast by the teacher to show the classes what charms could do. Granted, there were many things charms could do, but this was a small sample.

"Hello Mildred," Pippa greeted, "we need to speak to your mother."

Mildred blinked a little, realising that she hadn't told her mother about the scholarship or indeed coming all the way to Pentangles. She only hoped her mother was willing to give Pentangles a chance.

"Okay," she replied, trying to keep her nervousness hidden at the sudden realisation. "Shall we?"

Pippa nodded, mentally preparing herself for the meeting. She didn't know for sure what Mildred's mother was like, and she hadn't bothered to ask either Ada or Hecate about what they knew or thought about the woman. She wanted to form her own opinions.

After casting a spell on herself and Mildred so they were dressed as non-magically as possible, Pippa took Mildred back to her home. She had learnt from Cackles' files that Mildred was looked after by her mother, Julie Hubble. She apparently worked as a nurse at the local hospital, and she definitely supported and loved her daughter, but Pippa was worried about what the woman was going to say and do when she found out about the Pentangles scholarship.

Pippa stood silently as the young witch pressed the doorbell. A few moments later the door opened and a woman with messy hair opened the door and pulled Mildred into a hug.

"Hi mum," Mildred greeted, her voice muffled slightly by the woman's embrace.

Pippa watched with a slow smile as Mildred's mother pulled back, noticing her if the quizzical look in her eye was any indication, but was focused on her daughter. "What are you doing here?"

"I've left Cackles," Mildred replied.

Pippa wondered if she should intervene now, but she decided to let mother and daughter talk for a bit. "I knew you were going to leave, but not this soon. What happened?" Julie asked.

Mildred hesitated and looked straight at Pippa. Julie had noticed her, but she had suppressed the urge to ask who she was for the moment. The Pentangles headmistress saw the hesitant look on Mildred's face and stepped forwards. "Miss Hubble, my name is Pippa Pentangle," she introduced herself, holding out her hand genially. Julie blinked in confusion but she shook the other woman's hand; she didn't know why, but she had immediately liked this woman.

"Are you a witch?" Julie asked, all the while restraining the urge to smile at the woman.

Pippa hesitated. This woman had no reason to like her or her kind, especially after what had happened to Mildred. But it was obvious she was a witch - how else could she have arrived here, with Mildred, except with magic? But it was clear Julie had already worked it out.

"I am a witch, yes," she replied slowly and deliberately. "I'm also the headmistress of another magical school."

She looked left and right quickly. "Is it okay if we take this inside?"

Julie looked like she was torn between keeping her out of her home, but she decided to hear what this woman had to say. "Okay," she replied and she led the way into the flat. Pippa followed and found herself in the Hubble's flat. It had certainly become a lived in space for the two Hubble's and it was definitely a home.

"Why exactly are here with my daughter?" Julie asked.

"Recently my school and Cackles were involved in the Spelling Bee competition; its a competition designed to test the magical knowledge between the two schools, but it can also cause a lot of rivalries," Pippa replied. "During this yearly round, Mildred's name was picked out because of the first letter of her surname. She and Ethel Hallow competed with my students, and eventually, Mildred won the round for Cackles."

Julie shook her head. "I don't get it. After what Cackles did to her - accusing her of theft, making her life a misery, subjecting her to mental abuse for a day, nearly murdering her cat - why would she help them with a competition?"

"Don't think I didn't try to get out of it," Mildred spoke up for herself, "I tried, but Miss Cackle said it was magical tradition."

"Magical traditions are unbeatable," Pippa added before she went on with her story. "Anyway, during that time I watched Mildred."

Julie narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean?" she asked, intrigued.

"For a long time, stories of Mildred being at Cackles has spread; the Great Wizard himself certainly can't keep his mouth shut, and I was intrigued. But really there are very few witch schools where some of the girls aren't from traditional families, but mine does. When I arrived at Cackles, I saw the way Mildred was being treated, so I offered her a scholarship at my ship."

"What?" Julie was flabbergasted, and she glanced at her daughter and wondered for a second if her desire to become a witch hadn't done something to her brain.

Mildred's face told her that the decision hadn't been easy for her. "It's true. I accepted earlier," she replied.

Julie sighed and facepalmed before she turned to Pippa. "Why are you offering her a scholarship?"

Pippa leaned forward. "I have a personal interest with students from non-magical families," she explained. "When I was growing up, I met one at my school, and I befriended her. But she left soon after because she couldn't cope with people not helping her and basically shunning her because of her background, and I'm ashamed to say I didn't really help."

Pippa looked sadly at Julie, who was taken in by the story. "I had to say goodbye to her, and I also realised the weaknesses in magical education, so I decided to found a school. There are so many factors that go into it, but I spent a long time disappointed by what I'd learnt myself when I was Mildred's age and above. Many of my students are from the same background as Mildred, and there were quite a few teachers to help them ease into their new lives. When I went to Cackles and saw Mildred, the trial and the fiasco had just happened, but I could see she had the spirit of a witch, so I offered a scholarship."

"I'm just glad you took the time to visit me instead of whizzing me off to the school," Julie commented.

To the surprise of both Hubbles, Pippa shook her head. "Don't tell me, let me guess - Hecate Hardbroom? She dragged you away from something you were busy with, brought you to the school, and sent you back am I right?" she asked.

"How did you guess?"

"Hecate and I are old friends," Pippa replied. "We had a falling out a long time ago, but when I offer new students a scholarship at my school I don't take them to Pentangles, well not until they're comfortable about the idea."

"You're going to take us to Pentangles?" Julie asked for clarification, but there was a smile lurking around.

"Yes. I want you to see the school personally," Pippa replied, smiling inwardly at the woman's attitude.

"What separates your school and Cackles?"

Pippa smiled at the question. "Every magical school teaches magic in exactly the same way. They separate the two sexes because for witches and wizards there are two lines of magic for both to learn, it's not the same in some schools which manage to teach both boys and girls. Mine is one of them. They teach spells, potions, and chanting along with a few other classes. To appeal to the traditionalists, I had to include those traditional subjects although I had plans to do so anyway. Those subjects are the core of all magical schools. But my school has subjects which are both old and new. For instance, we have technomancy, which is the integration of magic and technology, and there is alchemy which was for centuries a primitive form of potions but was extremely intricate and useful in ways that many witches and wizards have simply forgotten and passed over in favour of potions. Another subject is magical zoology which gives students the opportunity to learn about magical animals, but my favourite addition is enchanting," Pippa replied, her passion showing through clearly for the two Hubbles. "When I was a little girl, I wanted to an enchantress," she sighed as she remembered and her eyes became misty-eyed as she recalled those days. "I grew up reading stories of some of the greatest enchantresses in witch history, and I wanted to become one. But when I went to school when I was 11 they didn't teach it. I only discovered the subject when I went to college."

"But you've included it in your school's curriculum," Julie noted as she began getting more comfortable with Pippa's presence.

"Yes, that's right," Pippa grinned, "enchanting is one of the oldest magical arts ever. It's not a good idea to get rid of it, and I think its a shame to ignore it. It's the same with some of the other classes that are available that are considered dated by magical standards whereas a subject like technomancy is relatively new."

Pippa paused for a moment to let the other woman take in what she'd said, but Julie still seemed a little unsure. The pink-clad headmistress had encountered this type of problem in the past with the parents of non-magical students whom she had offered a scholarship; she was thankful Julie Hubble was not one of those parents who didn't care about their child after it had been discovered they had a talent with magic, but she could see the woman was still uncertain about the offer for her to take Mildred on as a student.

But Pippa could see the same weariness Mildred had with her (she wasn't stupid, though it was hard to hide the hurt she felt that someone as loveable as Mildred was cautious around her, after what the girl had taken at Cackles it wasn't a surprise to the witch), and she wanted to find a way to help.

She reached a decision. "How would you like to see Pentangles yourself?" she asked graciously.

Julie wasn't surprised by the offer, but it was more politely offered than what Miss Hardbroom had done earlier this year by simply snatching her from cleaning the toilet. "Okay," she said. "Give me a minute. I just need to get my jacket."

Pippa nodded.

When Julie was ready, Pippa triggered a transportation spell and whisked them straight to Pentangles. The three of them materialised in the courtyard where more than a few students were milling about carrying books. Julie looked around, impressed by her first view of Pentangles, and at the smartly dressed students.

Pippa escorted the two through the school and showed them around the school though she didn't disturb any of the lessons already on, and as she led them through the school Julie became more and more impressed by the standard of the school. When they reached the technomancy class, Pippa opened the door and silently strolled in with Mildred and Julie, and watched as the classroom went on. Some of the students and indeed the teacher, or teachers in this classroom, both of them had Australian accents, looked up in surprise at Pippa's entrance, but at a hand gesture from the pink-clad witch the two went back to their job, though they spared Mildred some curious glances.

Mildred herself was walking around slowly around the classroom. The students here seemed a few or two older than her, but they were clearly enjoying their lesson. Some of the students - boys and girls - looked at her curiously, but they carried on with their lesson. It seemed that none of them was working on the same project. They were working with mobile phones similar to her own (she had been surprised when she had found her mobile in her pocket with a note from HB, saying that she was sorry things had gone wrong for her, but wished her all the best) but while the mobiles looked like phones she was used to seeing outside Cackles and now Pentangles, these phones were clearly different.

At another table nearby a student was busily pouring a silvery liquid, one that Mildred recognised as a potion into what looked like a phone battery straight out of a small cauldron. The student re-sealed the phone and placed it underneath what looked like a cross between a golden microscope, a magnifying glass and a telescope in hues of silver, copper, bronze, and gold the student then flicked a switch.

The microscope thing glowed with magical power and runes appeared in the air and swirled around the phone in a spiral. Mildred studied the runes for a second, but because of her lack of experience with them, she didn't know what they meant. The runes drifted down through the spiral and were burnt into the mobile's casing but they quickly disappeared.

The student carefully lifted the mobile and turned it on before pointing it at a vase nearby, and pressed a button on the swipe screen which made the mobile glow, and a beautiful bouquet of flowers appeared. Mildred gaped in astonishment. The student noticed her for the first time. "Well met," the student greeted her.

Mildred repeated the greeting. "How did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Make the phone magical," Mildred clarified.

The student gestured at the cauldron which was still bubbling gently. "The potion is a mixture of magical crystals that were once used as wand cores and a few other ingredients. The potion is placed inside a battery and placed back in the phone, and then its placed under the rune inscriber. The runes are burnt into the phone and they disappear once their magic mixes with the potion, and the phone becomes similar to a wand."

The student picked up the phone. "I need to keep working on this, erm do you mind leaving me to it, please?"

"Oh sure thing, thanks," Mildred said and walked back to where her mother and Miss Pentangle were speaking with one of the teachers. The teacher glanced at Mildred curiously for a second. She was quite beautiful with long dark blond hair tied into a messy braid draped over his left shoulder. The witch reminded Mildred of those sales assistants at the nearest Apple store than a typical witch who usually dressed in a long flowing dress or robe. This woman was dressed in trousers and a t-shirt and trainers. She was looking at Mildred with a warm smile.

"You're the scholarship girl?"

Mildred nodded. "Yeah, I am," she said uncertainly.

"It's nice to meet you, Mildred. I'm Miss Miranda Silver," the woman introduced herself with a massive smile on her face.

Mildred's hand went to her forehead, but Miss Silver waved her off. "No need to do that, Mildred," she said, "how do you like the class, looking forward to it?"

Mildred blew out a breath. "I have no idea how this works," she admitted. "I know the phones are mixed with a potion and runes, but that's it."

Miss Silver chuckled. "Oh, trust me, this subject is completely different to what you learn at Cackles or any other school. This is one of the newest magical subjects in the world, but it is growing every day. It's grown a great deal since it was first pioneered by a few college students fascinated by non-magical technology and wanted to integrate magic into it," she said.

Julie looked around the room, it reminded her of a classroom, a laboratory and workshop rolled into one, though the cauldrons and the inscribers added an odd touch. "How new is it?"

"Technomancy first appeared on the scene about 20 years ago," Miss Silver replied, "but while the traditionalists hate it, there are so many applications for it, some of them haven't even been worked out yet. That's why Pentangles is special, its one of the few magical schools to add the subject the curriculum, and gives witches and wizards a chance to develop the science."

Julie's brow furrowed curiously as she glanced at the blond witch next to her, "Why did you include this in your school if the traditionalists don't like it?"

Pippa chuckled. "Well, Technomancy might be new but the subject offers everything I want my students to develop; knowledge, curiosity, and pushing the Craft onward. Just because some of the subjects I offer are centuries old does not mean I don't look towards the future."

"Technomancy is the future," Miss Silver, like many people who had studied an amazing subject, was devoted to it. "It keeps the Craft going, it's a mixture of charms, transfiguration, runes and potions. The traditionalists might not like it, but the subject is truly different. The problem is there are quite a few of us, but we're still developing the subject, and there are so many things we still don't know. It's one thing to inscribe runes into mobile phones and iPods, but we still want to develop it."

Mildred looked interested and she wondered what else this subject could teach her, but at that point, Miss Pentangle said, "I'll see you later then Miranda. It's time to go on," she said to Julie and Mildred.

To the surprise of the two Hubbles', they were led to Miss Pentangles office. Mildred had pictured the office as being, well pink. But the reality was different. The room was done up with a deep purple colour that was warm and comforting though there were signs of pink and white here and there. It was similar in some ways to Miss Cackles office with its bookshelves and a desk with visitors chairs, but the office had photographs and certificates on the walls.

Miss Pentangle took a seat. "How did you like the school?"

Mildred's mind was on the Technomancy class, but she heard the question and knew what she could ask. "I enjoyed the tour," she replied, "but will I be able to catch up with them?"

Miss Pentangle nodded. "The good news is you already have experience of magic thanks to your time at Cackles; just because you had problems with potions doesn't mean you don't have experience. But we should be able to work with you. Another good bit of news is many of the subjects we have at Pentangles are school taught, and you do have experience there."

Mildred nodded in agreement.

Julie had slowly but surely become agreeable to the idea of Mildred coming here rather than staying at Cackles, but she was worried that Mildred would suffer from the same disappointment. "Miss Pentangle, is it okay if we talk in private?" she asked.

Pippa nodded and smiled at Julie, and gestured for Mildred to wait outside. When the two older women were alone in the office, Pippa leaned back and waited for Julie to speak.

"Miss Pentangle, thanks for helping Mildred as much as you could. But I'm worried-."

Pippa held up a hand. "I think I know where this is going, and you're right; Mildred was badly let down by her friends and teachers at Cackles, and I know you and your daughter are both right to be worried. I can tell you objects like Star globes are banned in this school, but I doubt that will help."

The two women shared a look. Both of them had liked each other instantly, but they had to solve this problem.

Julie sighed. "When I heard what had happened…. I was upset, badly upset. I wanted Mildred to leave Cackles, but now I'm worried something similar is going to happen here."

Pippa could understand that. "I don't blame you."

"Will it be okay for Mildred if she's here?"

Pippa nodded with a smile. "When I met your daughter, I could see she was special. I also saw the way she wasn't learning anything at Cackles. Their mistake was not giving her lessons that were specially designed for her. If she had learnt the basics of spells then perhaps she wouldn't have a shaky knowledge of the subject. They also didn't bother helping her with broomstick flight; she should have been given more time to learn how to fly properly and how to control her broomstick. At other schools, broomstick flying tests occur in the first year. Not so in this school because we want all of the students to learn flying techniques that take time to learn and can't be picked up in just a few seconds."

Julie wanted to find something else to argue about, but truthfully she was tired of going round and round on a loop. When Mildred was called back in, she was grateful to find Miss Pentangle and her mother sitting on a couch, chatting.

"Everything okay?" she asked.

Pippa grinned at the sight of her. "Yes," she replied.

Julie was smiling. "Pippa was telling me how you'd conjured a raincloud over Ethel Hallow and got her soaked."

Mildred ducked her head in embarrassment.

* * *

I hope this was worth the wait.


	9. Chapter 9 Mildred, the Pentangles girl

I hope you enjoy this chapter and please leave feedback.

Recently, I've been thinking about something the alternate Maud Spellbody said about Mildred, that she didn't have friends. I've got an idea about it - instead of being an all-around good kid, Mildred has run with a few gangs and learnt the rudiments of her powers. When she encounters Maud, she wants to turn over a new leaf, but things don't go her way.

What do you think?

* * *

Mildred, the Pentangles' girl.

During the day where she was given the opportunity to learn more about the school, the grounds, and meeting the teachers though for now, she had no idea which one would be her tutor, Mildred was fitted for her uniform. It was something she definitely enjoyed - while her Cackles uniform had definitely fitted her, there had been times where her boots had been uncomfortable, and some of her shirts had been either too small or too tight on her small, wiry frame.

But at Pentangles, the students were given uniforms that were tailor fitted, although instead of witches and wizards rushing about her with measuring tapes there was instead a very nifty spell that was cast over her and scanned her body. Mildred had laughed a little bit since the spell was ticklish, and a very amused Miss Miller, the deputy headmistress, had told her that the spell was delicate and it might be ticklish but she would need to restrain herself.

The witch responsible for the uniforms cancelled the spell after ten minutes of constant scanning and looked from between Mildred and Miss Miller with a smile. "I think I've got everything," she announced. "You'll receive your uniform tonight. If you have any problems then please come straight to me."

Mildred smiled at her. "Thank you," she replied, grateful; she had had problems with some pieces of her uniform, but she had been told witches don't complain about things like that, so she had been forced to grin and bear it. Over time she had gotten used to the uniform, but she had often wondered if Hardbroom had made sure her uniform was as uncomfortable as it could be in order for her to leave.

Mildred had gotten used to the uniform though that thought had given her the strength to add it to her list of things to be defiant about; she was not going to let some drab, ugly uniform hold her back.

She hadn't expected the people of Pentangles to be so thoughtful enough to go the extra mile when it came to their uniforms but clearly, the school did care.

Miss Miller escorted Mildred to her office. Mildred looked around the office curiously. She had been in Miss Hardbroom's office plenty of times, and since she was the only other witch deputy headmistress she knew about, she had imagined or at least pictured Miss Miller's office to resemble the potions mistress's private domain. But Miss Miller's office was a red in colour, brighter than the dark room made more sinister and grim by the jars of grisly things that were either potion ingredients waiting to be used or simply potions on display.

Miss Miller's office was a little more like Miss Cackles; there were books on shelves, but there were photographs on the walls and posters, which were an odd mix between photographs of witches and wizards who were friends with Miss Miller, and posters of movies and of pop groups. Small knickknacks were scattered around the office. Mildred had the impression Miss Miller was a serious woman but she had a fun, more relaxed nature than Miss Hardbroom.

"Please, sit down Mildred," Miss Miller gestured to a chair and Mildred instantly took her seat.

Miss Miller watched her from behind the desk for a moment. "I hope you're happier at Pentangles than you were at Cackles, Mildred, but I want to know, from your own words, what your thoughts were prior to the announcement of the Spelling Bee."

Mildred was a little surprised by the question. "What do you mean, Miss?"

"I mean, after you were accused of a theft you didn't commit, how did you feel about Cackles?"

Mildred stiffened and her eyes became hooded at the thought of that trial, and her realisation during that period. It was still painful for her to deal with, but she had gotten better with time. "I was accused of stealing a star globe created by Merlin himself. The teachers woke me up - I was already tired because I'd finished one of my detentions, but when I saw the teachers it was like looking at different people. The next day the rest of the school had found out about the globe. The teachers isolated me from the rest of the classes and they used the time to taunt me, and they encouraged the others to pick on me. I was cursed in the corridors, spat at. In that time Miss Cackle and Miss Hardbroom arranged a trial that was less like a court of justice and more of a show trial. I realised I didn't have a place there," she began and she kept going to make the woman understand, "they went on about everything that had happened at the school; the mistakes I made, the failed flying tests, being turned into a frog, turning another girl into a pig. All of the potion mishaps were retold with delight from Miss Hardbroom, who looked like she was enjoying every minute of it.

"As I sat there, listening to every single thing that I'd done or been involved with, I realised I didn't have a place at Cackles. When the Star globe was found, I walked out of the hall, furious with Miss Cackles plea for forgiveness. When I got back to my room, I found it completely trashed, and my cat was injured by a curse by someone I thought was better than that."

Miss Miller groaned, disgusted by what the Cackles witches had done to Mildred's cat. "Go on."

"I became desperate to leave," Mildred confessed. "I was getting myself into trouble by accident nearly all the time, so I figured I'd be expelled at some point, before the trial I had gotten lucky, something had happened to keep me from being expelled. After the trial, I had stopped caring; everyone realised that they'd gone too far with the trial, and Miss Cackle wanted to make up for what she and the others had done. I didn't care. I just wanted out, and I decided that if I couldn't be expelled then I would simply wait until the end of year exams."

Miss Miller nodded. "You planned to fail them?" she said, understanding in her tone. She herself had become so frustrated at her own school, but her situation was remarkably different from Mildred's.

"Yes," Mildred replied. "When I was sitting in the trial, I took comfort from the idea I'd soon be leaving Cackles, anything to get away from the accusations. There was also something patronising about their apologies, I can't explain it."

"Don't worry about it," Miss Miller assured her. "Go on. I want to know how the Spelling Bee went for you."

"The Spelling Bee was announced the next day. In the early hours of the morning, I broke the rules by giving my mother a mirror call and telling what had happened; I wasn't going to hide it from her. My mother was supportive of me becoming a witch, but she wasn't too impressed with the attitudes she'd received at Cackles."

To Mildred's surprise, Miss Miller nodded and rolled her eyes. "Miss?"

Miss Miller chuckled. "My parents weren't very happy with the attitudes of the teachers of my first magical school either," she related the story as the memories of those first days as a witch entered her mind. "They weren't happy with me being a witch either," she added before shaking her head out of those memories.

Eyes wide, Mildred gaped at the deputy headmistress. "You're….. not from a witch family?" she whispered, though truthfully it made sense; Miss Miller had quite a few items in her office that were from the non-magical world, but she hadn't paid much attention to any of them until now. But Miss Miller's last name didn't sound very witchy.

Miss Miller nodded. "Like you, and some of the students in this school, I had to deal with prejudice myself. It took me a while to adjust; no-one wanted to be my friend, I was used as a convenient scapegoat when something went wrong, and believe me they did, and I was tempted to leave once or twice."

"So was I," Mildred interrupted excitedly, pleased she'd found some common ground before realising her faux pas. "I-I'm sorry, Miss. I didn't mean to interrupt."

Her mind went back to what Miss Miller said about no-one wanting to be her friend, and it made her wonder why Maud and Enid had stuck with her for so long. She was still a bit sceptical about them even if they'd formed a kind of truce before she'd left.

"It's okay, just don't make a habit of it. Where was I?" Karen asked herself before smiling. "Oh yeah. I found out that witches must help themselves. With that in mind, I observed the other girls in my class when they cast spells, and I discovered each one of them used a different hand movement to cast them. It took me a while to realise that they were thinking what they wanted before they told their magic what to do, and I took it from there, with some help."

"Were you bad at potions?" Mildred couldn't help but ask.

Her question made Miss Miller smirk. "I was awful at potions, but I did my best. One of the beauties of school is you learn from your mistakes, and my potions teacher was very patient with me. She was the one who helped give me advice about magic, but while I can brew some potions I am still terrible at some of them."

Mildred smiled at them.

"But I was lucky enough not to be included in the Spelling Bee. What happened?"

Mildred's smile faded somewhat. She still felt contempt towards Cackle and Hardbroom for pushing her into those revision lessons with Ethel Hallow only to make sure she didn't take part. She let some of that old bitterness seep into her tone. "Miss Hardbroom pushed me and another girl, Ethel Hallow, into revision lessons. Ethel comes from a witch family, something she never hesitated to point out at me whenever we interacted. Ethel bullied me even before the contest but during the sessions, she was worse. She was contemptuous and she didn't hesitate to threaten me if Cackles lost the contest. It never occurred to her I had stopped caring about the school."

Mildred took a deep breath to help steady her nerves. "When Miss Pentangle arrived with Zac and Sapphire, the sessions became more gruelling and Miss Hardbroom didn't tolerate any mistakes, which unfortunately for me happens a lot, and because of her looming over me like a giant bat," she blushed at Miss Miller's amused look, "sorry, and making me nervous all the time, I caused accidents. At one point, the potion exploded."

"That happened to me once or twice," Karen said, "it happens to even the most experienced witch. Everyone makes mistakes. One of the problems with the magical world is that so many people do not like to be reminded they are merely human. Pippa told me you shared a potions tutorial with Zac and Sapphire," Karen grinned. "She said you enjoyed it."

"I did, yeah," Mildred smiled back. "She was very supportive, encouraging. She was patient, something I have really missed." The smile faded and Mildred looked upset slightly.

The girl's clear distress that her old school's teachers had caused her stress angered Karen because it brought back memories of how she had been treated by some of the teachers of her own school, but she forced them down. "Pippa is a brilliant teacher, Mildred," she replied, "she knows that while subjects like potions are critical for a magical education, she believes that a calm demeanour works better than simply hovering above like a giant bat," Karen held back the urge to laugh along with Mildred when the girl bit back a clear giggle, "and causing the students stress. She also believes that showing the girls, if they are bad or new to potions, how the ingredients work is better than shouting at them in case something goes wrong, but let me tell you that Pippa is a very experienced teacher, and she is not afraid to put down students for not trying their best."

Mildred blinked a little at the blunt statement but she nodded, figuring it made some sense. Miss Pentangle was a teacher, she was also a dedicated headmistress, and from what she had learnt about the woman from her prospectus she had been teaching for years so she would know not to be a pushover. She nodded slowly in agreement with Miss Miller's statement.

"What else happened with the Spelling Bee, Mildred?"

Mildred had been annoyed with Hecate Hardbroom leaving the plan to keep her out of the competition at all costs to the last minute, and she didn't hesitate to let Miss Miller be unaware of it. "I was pushed from one revision session to the next until I had nothing but potions and spells on my mind, and all that time they had planned to keep me out of the contest. Miss Hardbroom waited until Ethel and I were just about to head into the hall, and told us that I wouldn't be taking part but Ethel would. I'd expected it, but I didn't like having my time wasted."

Karen snorted, wondering what mental process had possessed the teachers at Cackles into doing that, but she wasn't surprised. "You must have been bored out of your mind," she observed.

"I was," Mildred's face and tone bordered on long-suffering. "I would have gladly taken a drawing pad, if the one I had taken into Cackles had survived, and doodled until the sun exploded if it meant I could have something more meaningful to do other than be the guinea pig for Ethel's spells."

Karen wasn't sure how to feel about Mildred's graphic description of how bored she'd been but if she were honest, but she could sympathise with her. Another thing that caught her attention was that little comment about the drawing pad, but she didn't ask for details. Pippa had told her about the state of Mildred's bedroom. "And also having to nudge Ethel out of her crush on Zac was more entertaining," Mildred added.

Karen chuckled. "I imagine quite a few girls had crushes on Zac," she commented, wondering if Mildred herself had been attracted to the boy, but saw that she didn't have those feelings towards Zac.

Mildred nodded. "They did," she said, hoping Miss Miller didn't ask for more details.

Fortunately, Karen had something else to discuss with Mildred. "How did you feel about the scholarship offer?" she asked.

"I was excited by the idea and the lessons on offer at the school," Mildred said but she then began to gush, "some of the subjects sounded amazing, like technomancy and runes, and enchanting sounded truly cool."

Karen laughed. "It is," she agreed before her voice became more pointed. "Tell me something, were you wondering why Pippa offered it to you, and did you think, after the trial, that you felt nothing would change if you transferred to Pentangles?"

Mildred's happy posture changed and she became more businesslike. "Yeah, I did," she said, deciding to be completely truthful. "I had spent months trying to be seen as a good witch. I really had tried, only for everyone to tear that hope down. I had hoped that by being persistent and trying really hard at the studies, they would respect me, but that was thrown back in my face. I was worried that if Miss Pentangle took me to Pentangles, the same thing would happen. I would still be the worst witch."

Karen tutted angrily at the name. It brought back memories of her own experiences. "That won't happen, not while you are in my tutor group," she said.

Mildred started in surprise. "Excuse me? I'm in your tutor group, but no one told me-,"

Karen held up a hand as she interrupted the girl to forestall any more discussion on the topic. "Pippa and I have been in a meeting with a few of the other teachers. Some of them are from magical families, and while they teach magical children some of them have quite a few non-magical students in their own groups, but I told Pippa I would be happy to step in; I was like you a long time ago, so I was a perfect choice."

Karen had no intention of telling the girl she had spoken to Pippa before the meeting. She had more students from non-magical families in her tutor group than any other teacher, though all the other teachers had 3 or just 2 students in their groups, and she stood up for them because she knew that outside Pentangles they would have no voice.

"I will be speaking with the other teachers, consulting with them during your first few weeks here," she went on, "and I'll be speaking to you in informal meetings like this one, so if you have problems in any of the classes you'll be attending we can talk about them. I will listen to you, and I can tell you now I am not Hecate Hardbroom," she went on. "I'll listen to you."

Mildred blinked at her in confusion. "You've met her?"

"No, but I've heard about her. According to the potions teachers in this school, she is a powerful witch and a brilliant potions mistress, but she needs to work a bit on her teaching methods. They're archaic in their eyes, and they say she needs to work a little bit on her habits of praising the best student when there are other students who are just as capable. While witches according to that ridiculous code aren't meant to complain, they don't need to have a scary teacher looming over them."

"You're the first person I've met in either Pentangles or Cackles who has called the code ridiculous," Mildred observed, putting what Miss Miller had just said in mind.

Karen leaned back in her chair. "I studied the code thoroughly after I discovered witches help themselves, but I was interested in learning more about the culture in case there were other loopholes. I was so tired of the way the other students and the teachers were acting, so I read it to pass the time. But some parts of it looked like they'd been drafted centuries ago and was simply left untouched for centuries. I didn't like the code, but I knew it would help me in this world. But yeah, most of it is absurd."

Mildred felt a little bit stupid. She should have studied the code when she'd had the opportunity, but some of it was so hard to imagine and some of the concepts were a bit questionable because she couldn't imagine a witch having anything to do with a dragon. "I've never really thought much about it," she confessed.

Karen nodded, but her expression was serious. "I would seriously sit down and study it if I were you," she advised gently but Mildred could hear the command in the woman's tone. "In fact, I insist on it. I do that to all the students from outside the magical world. I got into a lot of trouble at school because of my ignorance because no one was willing to tell me anything relevant, but when I studied the code it gave me a leg to stand on; they believed I was so thick I wouldn't understand it, but I proved a lot of them wrong. I enjoyed every minute of it. You can do the same."

"So Pentangles won't be dissimilar from Cackles?" The question was out of Mildred's mouth before she could check it, but Karen closed her eyes and wished she had been a been a bit more tactful and chosen different words. "No, the two schools are totally different, and since there are other students from non-magical families here, bullying against both parties is strictly forbidden. Unlike Cackles, Pentangles offers students courses that delve into magical culture and history; for the magically raised students, its a walk in the park, but it helps to integrate the students from non-magical families."

"Imagine that you and your mother emigrated to another country like Japan, and you were shunned because you had problems with the language, or with understanding the nuances of the culture. In a way, the same thing happened at Cackles. But here we have courses and debates to help students adapt. That's not all, non-magical students are allowed to play games like tennis or football here, and are encouraged to show them to the other students who are interested."

Mildred had not known that, and she was instantly intrigued. "How come Miss Pentangle allowed that?" she asked.

Karen chuckled. "A few of the students were listless in the first years the school opened," she explained, "some of them talked about the games outside of the magical world. Pippa was intrigued and she got them what they needed and then it all kicked off from there."

Mildred smiled. The more she learnt about Pentangles, the more she loved the place. For the next hour, Karen and Mildred talked about the lessons she would be taking before the older woman escorted her to the room where the tutor group would meet before taking her to Mildred's new room. The moment she saw the bedroom, Mildred's eyes popped open. She had been so used to the dark and dreary bedroom she'd had at Cackles, a room that had been so cold she had needed to dump her school clothes on her bed before spreading her cloak on top to just keeping her warm.

But as she compared this room to that old miserable room that had been hurriedly prepared for her, Mildred felt that the teachers at Pentangles had really given her a 5-star hotel suite than a dungeon.

The bed was more solid looking than the rickety, uncomfortable thing she had slept in at Cackles. On top of it was a chocolate placed there in welcome, something that made her grin even as she took the rest of the room in. The desk was better quality than the one in Cackles, and there was a mirror there that she could tell was used for calling friends or family. The desk was a long unit with drawers on both ends with two other chairs. Mildred was curious about them.

"Sometimes the teachers will place you and other students in groups to work on projects, and it is a good idea to work in one room for a while in comfort, but if not there's always the couch," Karen explained.

The couch itself was against a wall. It was a simple but comfortable looking white couch that was clearly meant to be a place to relax on to read or unwind on. Mildred fell in love with the en-suite bathroom. "Oh thank you," she whispered, hoping the teacher hadn't heard. "No more queues for the shower or toilet, and thank god for a bath!"

But Karen did hear and she had to suppress a grin as she saw Mildred open the wardrobe, and saw the girl's eyes widen at the sets of uniform already in there. "What do I do with my old Cackles uniform?" Mildred asked when she realised she still had the drab uniform still on.

"It's up to you," Karen said as she approached the girl and put a hand on her shoulder. "You can keep it in the wardrobe or you can throw it out. It's your choice. No one is going to yell at you for that."

Mildred's hands twisted the red sash around her waist. "Okay."

* * *

A fortnight later, the staff at Pentangles were having a meeting. It was the evening so the students should've been in the common rooms or in their bedrooms, either studying or speaking to their parents and friends, but the staff room had monitoring spells that alerted the teachers to any movement in the corridors before they left for bed themselves. The staff at Pentangles met virtually every day to speak about matters of urgency, such as discipline, potion mishaps, spells and supply shortages, but for the last fortnight, the teachers had been prepared for this because Pippa had told them she had wanted to speak about their latest student after giving her time. Pippa had arranged for the meeting at night because she had wanted all of her teachers in on the meeting for this.

The staffroom at Pentangles was a long room with couches and soft armchairs arranged into a circle with a raised coffee table made from polished walnut in the centre. Pippa sat in one of the armchairs, Karen sitting on her left and she looked around the ring of teachers who were her friends.

"Okay," she said, "I want to know if there have been any problems in the last fortnight that we need to hear and discuss."

The teachers looked at one another before Gloria Moonlight, the transfiguration teacher, asked in an exasperated voice. "Pippa, why is Beatrice Black still here? I mean, she's so disruptive. She's causing problems for the other students again."

There was a collective groan. Out of the corner of her eye, Pippa could see Karen rolling her eyes in annoyance and she felt her own head start to ache. Beatrice Black was one of the few students Pippa had in her school that she actually took the time to dislike. The daughter of a rich family, maybe not as well off as families like the Hawthorns, the Hallows, or the Nightshades, but influential enough to ensure his daughter had been put into witch schools over a significant period, but Beatrice was currently on her last chance to buckle down and begin to act like a proper witch willing to learn the intricacies of magic.

Pippa had spoken to Beatrice's father and had discovered he had left the raising of his child to her mother, who had spoilt her and had neglected the basic early education every witch learnt in their world. Oh, Beatrice knew how to cast spells and brew potions, but she lacked the skills other students possessed to brew more complicated potions, meaning Beatrice had never been encouraged or shown how to brew potions which were more complex. That worried and frustrated Pippa, and she had contacted other headmistresses unlucky enough to have the spoilt girl in their schools and learnt they were just as frustrated and annoyed by Mrs Black's inability to teach the girl how to perform magic. But the damage was done - Beatrice seemed to think that because her mother had allowed it, the teachers would let her do anything she liked. She hadn't realised yet that was not going to happen.

There was always a witch or wizard nearly every year who was shunted from school to school because they were disruptive, and Beatrice was certainly in that category. Unlike Enid Nightshade who had been moved from seventeen schools until she found herself settled at Cackles, Beatrice didn't seem to want to be settled. Pippa had accepted the girl into her school simply because Pentangles had a great track record with students, but she was now regretting allowing herself to be talked into accepting her.

Like most witches her age, Beatrice had a very overinflated opinion about her abilities - that was normal, but she caused disruptions in every lesson she attended, which resulted in nearly every teacher she had in the school simply refusing to teach her. Pippa knew the girl was intelligent and she knew about magic, but she disrupted every lesson. Beatrice was a bully as well, and she had had her mirror confiscated so many times Pippa had ordered it to be kept out of her bedroom permanently until the girl either grew up and changed her ways or she did something to get her kicked out.

Neither Pippa or the teachers could work out why the girl was a bully since she was utterly terrible at magic. In a sense, Beatrice was the worst witch, but unlike Mildred Hubble, she deserved the title because she wasn't just awful when it came to magic but her attitude was infinitely worse. At least with Mildred, you knew she wanted to improve her knowledge and her skills.

Armed with a boastful attitude and a bullying nature, Beatrice was probably the most disliked student in the school. Pippa had lost count of the number of times she'd brought in the girl's father because her mother was out getting a manicure, or some insignificant thing like that, to try to get him to curb his daughter's activities or else she could cause a disaster that would result in her expulsion.

Mr Black was at his wits end himself, and Pippa could tell he was as frustrated like everybody else for his daughter's behaviour, and he had even confided in her he regretted letting his wife stupidly spoil the girl, but Beatrice was their only child since birth complications had unfortunately claimed the lives of three of their children, so there was an excuse for her being spoilt, but they should have made sure she became a witch regardless.

It wasn't just Beatrice that was hurt, all the other students in her year were suffering as a consequence. As far as Pippa Pentangle was concerned, all Mrs Black had done was ruin the life of her daughter because in the future Beatrice may indeed find herself in need of her magical education, and it would be lacking because she had never bothered to learn magic beyond its most basic lessons. It was true witches learnt magic on their own, but it had to be prompted, encouraged and expanded upon with the help of their parents, but Beatrice had never wanted to learn after her mother smothered her.

To make matters worse Beatrice's actions were also causing problems for other students. She was a terror and was too immature to be put into any classes. She caused problems in lessons which were supposed to be taken seriously, like potions, and there had been incidents where the girl had thrown ingredients across the lab where they'd blow up a cauldron and cause injuries.

Beatrice also exploded into terrible tantrums and many of the other students had taken to avoiding her, and while Pippa encouraged the students to get along and respect each other because they would need social skills in order to get a proper job after they'd completed school and college, she couldn't blame them either for wanting Beatrice to stay away. She herself could barely stand the obnoxious girl.

For almost two months now, Pippa and her teachers had been keeping an eye on the girl after it became apparent she had no interest in her lessons, and the tutors moved her from one group to another because she bullied the girls and boys in the various tutor groups until Pippa had become so fed up with the girl's attitude she had had her moved to a simple room where she would spend her time on her own before she had started looking forwards to Beatrice finally giving them an excuse to kick her out.

"What's she done now?" Pippa asked Gloria, knowing the transfiguration teacher didn't tolerate anyone messing about in her class given the nature of transfiguration.

Gloria sighed. "She talked loudly to five other students, boasting she could perform the spells in her sleep. I challenged her to do just that, but she couldn't perform the spells. Instead the glass she was supposed to transfigure exploded, if I didn't have shields built into the room's security spells, the other students could've been sliced to pieces."

Karen looked interested, and even a touch eager. "Please say you've got proof," she begged and a few of the other teachers also leaned forwards eagerly.

Gloria grinned. "What do you take me for?"

Pippa shook her head. "It may not be enough to kick her out," she cautioned. "Don't forget that several other students have caused problems in your class before."

"Not like this, Pippa," Gloria replied, hoping the pink-clad headmistress wasn't going to give the girl a second chance. "I have proof of what she did."

Pippa smiled. "Then let's hope it works in getting Beatrice kicked out," she said before she grimaced, "but her father could beg the council to keep the girl here for a little bit longer. Don't forget many of them aren't one hundred percent sure about the curriculum taught here. I can argue - Mr Black's family connections are partly the reason she was given the chance to come here, and they might force her to stay here longer unless she does something drastic."

Pippa suddenly sighed in irritation. "I have had meetings with the council and with Mr Black, begging me to keep the girl here, but I've told them and him unless she changes her ways then Beatrice will no longer have a place at this school."

Karen nodded. "We know," she said. "But we need to do something in order to stop her disrupting classes. The longer she is here, the more damage it will cause to the others."

Pippa sighed again as she thought about it. "What if we isolate her from the rest of the school?" she suggested. "It is not something I'd want to do to any student, but we can't go on like this."

"That's an idea," Hermione Thunderlight, the charms mistress nodded thoughtfully.

"We can give her some work to do, and hopefully the isolation will finally make her wake up," Pippa went on, but Karen shook her head. "I'm not sure that will work, don't forget even on her own she makes enough noise to wake up the dead. I doubt she'd even write anything on any piece of work she's given."

"From a practical point of view, no, we all know she won't do that, but at least we can prove when it comes to whether or not she can stay at this school by simply saying we had taken measures to give the students the chance to learn without their classes being disrupted but she still refused to do any work and we can also present the proof of what she has done; her disruptive attitude in the lessons, blowing up the cauldrons in potions, flinging ingredients into potions that causes them to blow up, broomstick accidents, and the damage to one of the common rooms," Pippa pointed out to her deputy headmistress, who nodded in agreement. "That is a good idea, Pippa."

"Alright, we can finalise the plans in a bit, I'm getting sick and tired of talking about Beatrice. Right now I want to know about our other newest student, Mildred Hubble. How is she doing?" Pippa asked, unsure if her aura which was already tinged with frustration because of Beatrice Black, had become noticeable to her friends and colleagues because of her sudden worry for the girl.

"I think we have a budding enchantress, Pippa," Lexi Bluebell smiled. Lexi was a tall, willowy woman with a somewhat dreamy quality like an elf, but the woman's eyes held a passion and gentleness for her subject and her students. Pippa had chosen her to teach enchanting because of her skills and abilities, but also her no-nonsense approach to the subject. If she believed Mildred was a budding enchantress, then she was.

"Really, in what way?" Pippa leaned forwards eagerly.

"Well, Karen arranged for Mildred to spend a few minutes with all of the teachers who ran courses that weren't taught at Cackles, to give her a taste of the classes and to also help her catch up with them," Lexi said, knowing she was already telling Pippa something she already knew about. Pippa had asked Karen to see if it would be a good idea, and apparently, it was. "Anyway, she only needed to hear my explanation for how enchanting worked and she instantly knew how it worked. She naturally grasped the principles, but the problem with Mildred is she was never given the basic lessons of magic that would have helped her at Cackles. She was never told until recently witches and wizards tend to think of what they want a spell to do, so she has no real idea of what her magic can do. That's the tragic thing."

"I was the one to help her in that corner," Pippa pointed out, once again wondering what was wrong with the Cackles teachers.

"We know, but I am just thankful she is doing so well. It will take her time to catch up to the level of the others in her class, but she is improving," Lexi went on with a smile, clearly pleased by her new student.

Pippa smiled back. She had studied enchanting herself at college and had picked up a few tricks over the years from her travels, but it was always good to find a new student who was good at it themselves. "How is she finding the class?"

"Well, as you know enchanting is one part imagination and one part science, and while Mildred's not exactly scientific, she makes up for it with her imagination. The girl is a natural artist, Pippa, but she does have a way to go."

Pippa nodded, accepting the report before she turned to Karen. "She's in your tutor group, how is she shaping up?"

"I think she's a joy to be around, and she's been instantly accepted into the non-magical student community we've got at Pentangles, but she's also made friends with Zac and Sapphire, and that has helped her make inroads with the other students, so that is a plus. But I haven't seen her go out of her way to try to form new friendships with other students, which I think is something she's learnt from Cackles; she must have tried to make a few extra friends and because of where she comes from, Mildred was shunned."

"As a member of my tutor group, Mildred is a lot like any other kid; she wants to have fun but also wants to learn, and that's the beauty of having her around. But I am worried because at Cackles, she had next to no support. None of the teachers there was willing to try to help teach her the basics of the code, of how spells and potions worked," Karen replied, addressing the rest of the staff as well as Pippa herself. "One of the things we need to do is build the girl's confidence up, and from what I've gathered Mildred was very outgoing and confident when she first attended Cackles, but a few weeks later with the teachers treatment and the way the students harassed her and ignored her simply because of their bigotry, that confidence was shattered and don't get me started on the Star globe."

Pippa would probably never stop feeling angry for the way Mildred's first days at Cackles were handled; it was like the staff and students at Cackles had deliberately conspired to get rid of her and maybe they had, or perhaps they had simply decided to teach her in the same manner as the other girls because they didn't know any other method and because the code meant she should learn magic for herself, but Pippa and her teachers, especially Karen, who knew the real reason. "Bigotry," she shook her head, "it's bad enough when its said directly to their face, but their actions spoke louder than words. Right, how about her other lessons? Selina?" she prompted the potions teacher.

Selina Rainstorm was a beautiful woman with dark skin with her long shining black hair done up in a high ponytail, but unlike Hecate Hardbroom Selina didn't dress completely in dark colours, she always wore an apron for her lessons or dressed in a lab coat like a stereotypical scientist in the non-magical world, or a tunic for demonstrating a really difficult potion, and unlike Hecate, Selina didn't just make the girls brew potions, she also showed them how they worked.

Selina was deeply passionate about her subject, and she took it extremely seriously. She encouraged people to speak to her if they had problems, she welcomed questions about the recipes and what would happen if something different was added to the mix. She didn't penalise students for that. She felt it was a great way to learn.

That was why Selina loved Pentangles - it gave her the excuse to make her students practice magic without looking like an idiot.

"I know Hecate Hardbroom's an old friend of yours Pippa, but I think she has really put Mildred off potions for life," Selina began, knowing Pippa truly did not want to hear that but she needed to tell her the truth. "It's only the fact I'm more patient than she is, and actually show her where she goes wrong along with Alice's potion basics classes that the girl is learning potions and actually succeeding in parts every now and then. Okay, she still makes mistakes, but I don't punish her for that."

Pippa had been dreading this part of the meeting for a fortnight, and she had spent a long time debating with herself whether or not she should either just get on with it and listen to Alice and Selina's potion lessons first, or wait until the end. She had made her decision at the last minute, but she had not wanted to hear Hecate's name.

"If you look at Mildred's file from Cackles and see her grades in potions, then you would see she is a terrible student, but when I had her in my potions tutorial with Zac and Sapphire before the Spelling Bee contest began, she was actually a good student; she was diligent and she followed my advice to the letter, and she truly excelled. The potion wasn't marvellous, but it was a good effort. It also showed that Mildred could brew a potion correctly if she was encouraged and not shouted at," Pippa observed remembering the lesson in detail.

"I wouldn't trust Hecate Hardbroom's opinion on a student to tell me what they're like, I judge someone by what I see them do, Pippa, but you're right; Mildred does respond well to encouragement, not shouting or someone looming above her shoulder and criticising everything she does," Selina replied. "But the problem is, she doesn't have a clue about how the ingredients work, and she needs to definitely work on her basic brewing skills."

"I'm teaching her those skills," Alice interjected. "But the good news is she grew up learning how to do things and then trying them herself, so that gives us something to work on."

Pippa still didn't like the slights towards Hecate, no matter how bad things had gone between them but even she knew Hecate had done Mildred a grave disservice. "I saw Hecate's method of teaching personally, and it reminded me of some of the old methods of potions teaching-," she said, but Selina quickly interrupted.

"Pippa, those old practices of harassing the students were designed to make them learn from their mistakes, but 8 times out of 10 they caused more problems than they solved," Selina said, "though many believed the method helped students reach their potential, and it did in some cases. But that was because the students had already known what to expect thanks to their parents. Some others don't have that advantage. I have no idea where Hecate learnt them from, but I can tell you that class performance can go both ways. Hecate Hardbroom…. you know what it is too difficult for me to work out because I don't know how her other students fare overall.

"But Hecate Hardbroom's methods are prehistoric; I'm sure she's a good teacher. I'm certain her other students do brilliantly because their parents taught them what to expect in her classes. And she is a phenomenal expert on potions, I know that; I've read her articles. But would I want her teaching my students, including the students from the non-magical families, not a chance," Selina said grimly, looking around the staffroom as if daring someone to contradict her. "Potions is a delicate science where the smallest mistake could do badly wrong. And apparently, she didn't really teach her lessons about how the potions could be botched up. But everyone here knows that potions are delicate, she knows that and yet she never took Mildred aside. All Alice and I can do is mitigate the worst of it."

Karen's eyes crinkled as she looked from one witch to the other. "How is she doing, I mean is she taking everything that your class offers, Alice, and then uses it to be better in your classes Selina?"

"Yes," both witches replied at the same, and they smiled at each other. "Mildred is certainly taking everything from my class and putting it into practice," Alice went on, and Selina added exasperatedly, "But what in the name of the Great Witch was Hecate Hardbroom thinking by not taking Mildred to one side, and give her hints and tips to help get through the potion classes?"

Pippa sighed. "I am starting to think that some of the teachers, and many of the students, decided to make her life difficult, and when she didn't perform well it solidified in their minds she was a lost cause."

"The only time a student would be considered a lost cause would be if they are definitely capable but completely unwilling to learn," Karen pointed out, and many teachers agreed with her. Karen went on, a tinge of anger in her voice. "But that does not excuse the fact they could have taken Mildred to one side, given her advice, helped her in some way - to hell with the code; it doesn't apply to girls or boys from non-magical families."

"But she is improving?" Pippa clarified, hoping to not get into a debate about the code; she didn't like some of the code but knew there was nothing she could do about it. Besides, thinking about the code reminded her of the Great Wizard. Many witches and wizards respected him, but Pippa wasn't one of them because of the man's old-fashioned beliefs.

Selina nodded before she turned to address Karen. "Yeah, but I think she should spend a bit more time in Alice's class for a week or two to improve her potions basics, to see how well she can do in my lessons. We've discussed this at length," she pointed at herself and Alice, "and we feel that while Mildred is improving, she should gather more momentum and learn more while she's succeeding in potions."

Pippa glanced at Karen. "What do you think?"

Karen nodded. "I'll discuss it with Mildred, but I'll want to hear more from you two about your plans."

"We're okay with that," Alice replied.

"What's Mildred like with broomstick flying?" Pippa asked.

Candice Winterhead, the flying instructor, sighed, a pained expression appearing on her face. "Mildred is an okay flyer," she began slowly, "but when I asked her about her broomstick flying test I was amazed they pushed her into it without giving her time to adjust. It's no wonder she had accidents, why didn't they teach her the ins and the outs of broomstick flying, and given her an extension so she could pass it? Okay, she might not have done brilliantly, but at least she would have passed after a few days of practice."

Pippa noticed Karen rolling her eyes, knowing her deputy had gone through this misery personally. "Many witch and wizard schools expect their pupils to pass the broomstick flying tests in their first year, but I've always found the test premature because, while its an essential quality of a witch or wizard, there are so many techniques any child can learn."

"And I know that," Candice said, "I passed my test with flying colours when I was eleven, but that was because I had practised long and hard on my broomstick. But three years later, a cousin taught me a trick on a broomstick that was so elementary I was annoyed with my school for rushing the test. I felt there should be one every single year, but there wasn't one, and then you persuaded me to put off the test for a few years. I agreed with you because I knew it was a good idea."

Pippa smirked a little at the memory. She had originally wanted her students to perform a test at the age of twelve, but Candice had argued back with her. There were good points for both arguments, and the two had fought for a little bit until they'd reached a compromise. Now, each term the students expecting to pass a broomstick flying test would need to put it off for a little bit before they gained their qualification a few years later.

Every year Pippa had to field letters from annoyed parents who were too traditionally minded who angrily protested the delay in the broomstick flying test but fortunately, with how many students who grew up and sent their own children to Pentangles, Pippa was able to put up with them.

Her smile faded. "Do you need time to teach her?"

Candice shrugged. "I think so," she said slowly, "if I can spare a few hours with her, alone, we might be able to help her improve."

Pippa turned to Karen. "Speak to Mildred on your next talk, tell her about the extra lessons and the matter of potions."

Karen nodded. "Okay," she said, making a note on the pad in her lap.

"What about transfiguration, how is she there?" Pippa asked Gloria, hoping she didn't come across as anxious, but she was sure it shone through because the teacher instantly put on her most reassuring smile. "Oh, don't worry, Pippa," Gloria said, "Mildred is doing okay in my class; true, she is finding things difficult, but she's quite a good magician."

"How do you mean?" Pippa was glad it wasn't just her who was surprised by the description, but Karen's interest was very clear.

"I asked Mildred if she had performed a multi-transformation spell before, and she described in detail how she had been threatened with expulsion if she didn't turn a mouse into a frog," Gloria shook her head, "she had apparently transformed another girl into a pig and had been changed in turn into a frog by the girl. Mildred managed to transform the mouse into a log, a dog, a clog-,"

"A what?" Hermione asked in amazement.

"A clog, a shoe, basically," Gloria said.

Hermione shook her head in disbelief. "Not bad, I mean I'm not an expert on transfiguration but transforming a mouse into a few objects, some inanimate and some alive is impressive-."

"Apparently not for Miss Hardbroom," Gloria interrupted, sneering the name in annoyance. "She was prepared to expel Mildred simply because she hadn't transformed the mouse into a frog. Talk about inflexible."

"How did Mildred get out of expulsion?" Miranda asked.

"Miss Bat, the chanting teacher was nearby, she was impressed by the multi-transformation spell, along with Mr Rowan-Webb; the man had spent 30 years of his life as a frog, courtesy of Miss Gullet, who'd stolen his position of Spells Science teacher at Cackles, and Miss Cackle."

"That was lucky," Pippa commented, wondering whether her old friend was deliberately ignoring the good points about the girl. "But what are your impressions of Mildred's spell work?"

Gloria sighed. "Mildred definitely needs to work on her spells. She was struggling a little bit, but I told her the secret of transfiguration is to visualise the transformation. That seemed to do the trick, but she definitely needs time to improve. In a fortnight's time, you and I should talk and see if she needs extra tuition, is that okay with you Karen?"

The deputy headmistress nodded in approval.

"That's to be expected," Pippa said. "What about Technomancy, Miranda?"

Miranda leaned forwards and looked from one teacher to the other. "Mildred has three advantages when it comes to Technomancy, Pippa," she began in her lilting accent. "The first is it's a new magical science, therefore the basics aren't really taught to anyone except new students from old students who've left Pentangles, so the class learns the principles from scratch. Second, the subject uses non-magical technology, and like the other students from outside the magical world, she knows how to use phones, iPods, CD players, etc."

"Third, because Technomancy is taught in a classroom, she knows what to expect since in primary schools out in the non-magical world students are taught by teachers telling them how something works. It's really easy for Mildred to learn in that environment because its all she's known for years."

Pippa had already gathered that because she had seen the education practices of non-magical schools. "How is she finding the class?" she asked.

Miranda shrugged. "Mildred's having a few problems with some of the concepts, the potion and the runes needed to make the techno-magic effect work, though its hardly a surprise; it took Wilson Cloister, the inventor of technomancy years to find the right combination of potions and runes to imbue magic into technology. But overall she's having fun."

Pippa nodded at Hermione. "What do you think about her?"

"Like some of the others, Charms is a specific type of spellcasting that isn't typically taught to children in their families, so once again Mildred has the advantage of learning something new from scratch, and like many new students expecting a typical spells class, she has to buckle down with them. But I think she has a gift; granted, it takes her a while to become good at casting several spells, but she's doing well."

"Do you think she needs to be tutored privately to bring her up?"

Hermione sat quietly as she thought about her response before she replied. "I think she's doing well at the moment, but for now I'll take a wait and see approach; it's too premature to do that now."

Pippa nodded, pleased that so far Mildred seemed to be doing well.

* * *

Mildred could say honestly that she was loving Pentangles. On the one hand, the school was like Cackles, but on the other, it wasn't. The lessons were amazing and the teachers went the extra mile to help her learn magic more than the teachers at Cackles had ever done. Granted, she still made mistakes in potions, but thanks to Potion basics class she learnt more about brewing in a single hour than she had done in a month under the tutelage of Miss Hardbroom.

She had been pleased that Miss Miller had simply told her about the decision to put her in Potion Basics to do a little bit of catching up with the others instead of doing what her old potions mistress would have done and simply pushed her there without telling her until the last minute. The level of trust was amazing to Mildred. The teachers were treating her like an adult instead of a simple retarded child who didn't understand what they were telling her.

The best thing, however, was she had more friends at Pentangles than she had ever had at Cackles. There were other students from non-magical families, and they'd formed a mini-community inside the student's ranks, they provided help to any new student but they all helped one another.

The culture of Pentangles was different from Cackles because while there were students from magical families, there had been students from non-magical families as well, and they had passed their experiences to their children, but the teachers actively encouraged the students to play the magical and non-magical games together so they could embrace the cultures of both worlds. Mildred had been surprised when she had discovered a cinema of all things in the school only instead of a white screen, there was a gigantic mirror that played the movies and TV shows for the students. The cinema, like the mirrors the students had in their rooms, was a privilege that could be taken away if the students had done something to step out of line.

As she stood chatting with her friends - Zac and Sapphire had done a good job integrating her into the school, and she had begun to make friends with other students, someone bumped into her. Mildred turned and found herself looking at Beatrice Black's face, and she rolled her eyes when the other girl laughed at her.

"How mature of you," she murmured, but Beatrice had begun bragging loudly to anyone nearby, though if she hoped they'd listen to her then she'd be waiting a while.

Sapphire and another girl, Claudia Periwinkle, overheard her and saw her looking at Beatrice. "I wonder how long it will be before she's kicked out," Sapphire commented, her usually bright expression clouded with an ugly frown as she looked at Beatrice with total dislike. Mildred had noticed that Sapphire seemed to dislike Beatrice more than any other girl or boy at the coed school, but she hadn't asked why.

Some of the others in the group overheard Sapphire, and they grimaced at the loud spectacle Beatrice was making.

"I heard she screwed up transfiguration, but the teachers don't have enough to get rid of her," Terry Mortlake said.

"Where did you hear that?"

Terry waved airily. "A great magician never reveals his secrets, but the teachers are compiling a list of things to get Beatrice forever."

Mildred didn't like hearing about someone everyone wanted to kick out, it reminded her too much of what had happened to Cackles. "Do we have to talk about it?" she asked, not liking the hopeful expressions on their faces even if she understood them. It hadn't taken her long to see Beatrice was what Miss Hardbroom had called her.

The Worst Witch.

Sapphire noticed her expression of sadness. "Oh, Millie," she said. "Do you know something? I think if the teachers at Cackles had you and Beatrice in their classes, then they would want you to stay while getting rid of Beatrice."

"You mean that?"

Sapphire nodded.

"When she first came here, there was quite a lot of worry. She's gained quite a nasty reputation for herself, but we tried to give her a chance, she's the one who threw it back in our faces," Claudia added.

Zac smiled at Mildred. "You want to learn magic, but Beatrice doesn't seem to understand or want to understand that we do as well, and she bullies us. She even tried bullying the older years, but they soon put her down for that."

It kind of figured; she had left Cackles to make a new and fresh start, but she had to encounter the Pentangles version of Ethel Hallow. Beatrice Black was like Ethel in many ways, but where Ethel had earned her place as Miss Hardbroom's favourite in the first year, Beatrice was actually the worst student in the school, and she had made the same mark in other schools as well.

Mildred felt it put things into perspective - she had spent months being told she was hopeless and that the teachers were only keeping her at Cackles as a favour to Miss Cackle, but she had really thought herself as a bad student.

Mildred entered the enchanting classroom, smiling when she saw Miss Bluebell, who spared them all a kindly smile, though her expression noticeably darkened when she saw Beatrice still talking her head off. Mildred sat down at her desk and found herself looking at a small piece of wood with a stone and a small potted plant nearby. Mildred ran a finger over the wood lightly, it didn't feel like it was particularly strong, in fact, it felt like it was quite rotten.

"Today class, we will be experimenting with enhancement spells. This is a basic enchantment, but its a step up to being able to manipulate the very environment. Now, many enchanters have over the centuries misused their capabilities to put people under their spell, but this lesson will be the first of this type. So far, you have learnt beauty inducement and blessing manipulation, but there are other means a trained enchanting expert can use."

Miss Bluebell paused for a second. "Enhancement spells are related to quality manipulation, which is why you have the stone on each of your desks. Your job after you've worked on the enhancement spell which will be applied to the wood to make it stronger than it is in nature is to use the quality spell on the stone itself. Now quality can mean anything, from the shine of the stone, or general sharpness if it has a jagged edge."

* * *

For the next twenty minutes, Miss Bluebell lectured them on the spell and how they had to picture it. Mildred got straight to work. A few months ago, Mildred Hubble, Cackles student would never have been able to perform well in this class but after two weeks at Pentangles with hours of Spell basics' lessons and tutorials under her belt, along with support from Miss Bluebell who actually took the time to explain how enchantments worked out and how their magic worked, Mildred managed to enhance the piece of wood. When Mildred had seen and felt the wood it had been rotten, and it looked like a penknife could saw through it. But after waving her hand over the wood for a minute, picturing it becoming stronger, she just left the wood alone for a second, eyeing it for a moment before she waved her hand over the wood again, picturing the damage done to the wood, the black spread of the rot like infected flesh, and she pictured the wood fighting the infection and becoming healthier. The darkness was pushed out as though it was being told, "go away, you will never be welcome here."

Mildred smiled as the dark rot in the wood faded and was replaced by a more healthier colour. When it was finished, Mildred leaned back with a smile.

Miss Bluebell's voice interrupted her thoughts. "How did you do that, Mildred?"

The dark-haired girl jumped in her chair and turned to find the enchanting teacher standing by her shoulder. "Miss Bluebell, I'm sorry, I know you told us to enchant the wood to be stronger-," Mildred babbled.

Miss Bluebell held up her hand. "You've got nothing to be sorry for, you've done brilliantly. In fact, you have done something that enchanters have been doing for years, but I was going to show you the spell in the next class."

Mildred felt sheepish for doing something so advanced, but Miss Bluebell held up her hand. "Don't worry about it, Mildred. In the next lesson, you will be shown ways of developing the skill, okay?"

Mildred nodded, thankful that the teacher was not harsh enough to rebuke her for getting ahead of everybody else. After the class, Mildred was talking with her friends again about the class when Beatrice stepped in front of her, a sneer spread across her face. "Bet you liked that didn't you, Trouble, showing us up in class?"

If there was one thing she was thankful for Ethel Hallow for it was becoming used to acerbic attacks from other witches and wizards. But where Ethel and Miss Hardbroom were a little more subtle about their insults, at least they had been more observant. Mildred sighed, she was quickly becoming a veteran of these little confrontations. After Mildred had restored the health of the wood, some of the other girls had asked Miss Bluebell if they could do it themselves, and the teacher had jumped at the chance to teach them something new.

"If others could do it, so could you," Mildred retorted and moved to step past the obnoxious girl, but Beatrice simply wouldn't let up. "Don't walk away from me, you pathetic, non-witch-!"

Mildred gasped as she felt someone smack her back and she fell forwards, the voices of Miss Bluebell and her friends overlapping each other -

Suddenly she found herself in the arms of someone, and Mildred felt as if time itself had slowed down. She was in the arms of a boy, and her breath caught in her throat as she gazed at him. He had longish hair that was combed neatly but some of it fell into his hair. He wore black-framed glasses that hid beautiful blue eyes. Mildred found herself lost in those eyes.

"Are you okay?" She heard someone say.

"You have beautiful eyes," Mildred heard someone else say before she heard Sapphire let out a cough, clearly holding back laughter. "Erm, Millie, you can let go," she said.

Mildred turned to face Sapphire, and her eyes crinkled in bemusement before she turned back to the boy, who was looking at her with a shy smile. Mildred blushed madly when she realised she had been the one to comment on his eyes, and she jumped out of his arms, her face flushing at the realisation she really had liked being in his arms.

"Thanks!" she squeaked and she rushed off, her friends chasing her, teasing her in a good-natured way.

* * *

Merlin Langstaff watched bemused as the dark-haired beauty left - beauty? He thought to himself, what am I thinking? I've only just met her. He turned to Zac, who was leaning against a wall, a smirk on his face. "Who was that?"

"Mildred Hubble. The new transfer student from Cackles Academy," Zac replied, the smile still on his face.

Well, at least he knew her name. Merlin smiled and realised he wanted to know more about Miss Hubble.

* * *

I had to add that last part.

PS - In case you noticed, I borrowed some of ImaginationOfAFan's Welcome to Cackles teachers from Pentangles with kind permission.


	10. Chapter 10 A surprise for Miss Hardbroom

I can't wait to watch the new episode on iPlayer.

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A Surprise for Miss Hardbroom.

Hecate Hardbroom sighed as she once more read the letter; she had read it three times already, so she probably knew the whole thing word for word by now, but she couldn't help herself.

Ada noticed her preoccupation, and her eyes crinkled curiously. "Hecate, is everything alright?" she asked.

Hecate looked up in surprise, only just realising Miss Cackle was looking at her curiously, and she held back the blush when she also realised she had brought her letter with her into the headmistress office. She handed the letter to Ada - she could have simply hidden it from Ada, but she and the elderly headmistress had been friends and working colleagues for many years now, so she had earned the trust - who took it curiously. And besides considering what the letter hinted she would need to leave the Academy for a brief time and attend to the matter personally.

"It's my brother Hercule," she replied. "He's died in a recent car accident. They tried to get through to my sister Constance, but she was away on a business tour to the Orient and she won't be back for another few months. So it's down to me to sort through the mess in his flat."

Ada looked at her sympathetically - Hecate didn't want her sympathy, but she was pleased she had it anyway. "Hecate, I'm so sorry about your brother's death. You've never really mentioned him before," she went on, "what was he like?"

Hecate sighed. "How could I put it? I believe the words careless, reckless, good-for-nothing, womanising and frustrating spring to mind. There were three of us, you see - Constance, our eldest sister and therefore the legitimate heiress of the Hardbroom legacy, Hercule and myself. Hercule was born three years after Constance was, but he's older than me by four years. The only reason my parents had decided to have more than one child was the broaden the scope of the family beyond the business we owned, well the one Constance owns now. Otherwise, my sister would have been an only child."

Hecate closed her eyes. "It was a hard life for all three of us - Constance may have been the eldest and had to spend more time with our parents so she could learn how to handle the business, but unlike with other families, my parents were hard on all three of us. They wanted us to do great things without being burdened by the family business. Hercule was the only person to try to make our lives more bearable. He made me and Constance laugh, but when he grew older he was offered an apprenticeship and he took it without hesitation."

Ada gasped. Apprenticeships were very difficult to come by in the magical world, and anyone who received them was highly regarded by witches and wizards alike, and with an apprenticeship under his robe, it would be easy for him to be seen as an adult.

Hecate saw her reaction and nodded. "He didn't even say goodbye to us," she whispered as was her custom, but Ada could tell her friend and colleague was hurting. "He just walked out of our lives. When he did that our parents became harder on us; they seemed more insulted that Constance hadn't been offered an apprenticeship than anything else, and they became even more strict with us. They willingly bent the Witches' code and started pushing us into learning forms of magic which were far above our level."

Ada looked sadly at her friend, trying to imagine that kind of existence. In a way Hecate's life reminded her of the careful and diligent way her mother had personally seen to it she and Agatha were taught before they'd formally started attending the Academy, but her mother had been very careful because she had known not to push them too hard.

It seemed the Hardbroom's had never learnt that lesson, and it made her wonder if they had in fact been envious of their son's good fortune. Magical education was one part tuition and two parts personal learning and experience, but that was normal magical education. Apprenticeships were far more complex and required a huge amount of time and commitment. It could take years for a student to pass even the most basic levels of learning, having to endure tests that would make the examinations in an average witch's life seem like an ordinary lesson in chanting class. They were that complex.

Many witches and wizards who took in apprentices found themselves disappointed. Half of the time the students they had taken in just walked out on them, but those who stayed with their master or mistress could spend the better part of a decade or two working with them. In her lifetime Ada Cackle had met several apprentices under the guidance of a teacher. But she had also heard that some of them had given up on their studies either because they were tired of being under the guidance of someone for years who wouldn't give up on them, because they wanted to make their own choices in life since they had reached their majority, or simply because they arrogantly believed they knew it all.

Ada had never thought she would be an apprentice herself. She was a reasonably powerful witch, and as a headmistress, she was expected to know a great deal about magic anyway. Ada considered herself to be a scholar - she was constantly collecting pieces of magical lore and keeping it in her private library that was accessible from her office or from her room. Only she could get in unless she gave permission to someone she trusted implicitly like Hecate, and she had.

But she didn't regret the fact no master or mistress had decided to take her under their wing and taught her aspects of magic that she didn't know about, but even if she had been offered the once in a lifetime opportunity she didn't know if she could have taken it.

"I don't know what to say," she whispered, at last, realising she had been deep in thought for a while and had only just noticed her deputy's worried look sent her way. "Do you feel envious towards him for the apprenticeship?" The moment the question was out of her mouth Ada winced knowing she would not like it, not one little bit.

Indeed Hecate's face seemed to shake with anger, much like it had after Mildred Hubble caused one of her frequent mishaps during potions class (she instantly pushed that to one side, she missed Mildred, and thinking about her was not going to bring her back to the school, not after she was apparently doing so well at Pentangles), but Hecate answered her question.

"A little bit," she admitted. "I always wondered what it would be like to be apprenticed under somebody, learn some of the more archaic spells and potions, and improve and increase my knowledge of magic. But it never happened. I don't even know what the master who took Hercule specialised in, it might have been home economics for all I know."

Ada suppressed a chuckle. For someone everyone claimed had no sense of humour, Hecate could be quite funny at times. "And he couldn't have faked it either," she pointed out though she knew Hecate already knew that. "The penalty a witch or wizard would receive if they faked an apprenticeship would be the removal of their magic," she said.

"Hercule would never want that, though he always was fascinated with non-magical technology," Hecate said before she held up the letter. "I never expected this. Ada, I don't want to seem presumptuous, but may I have a day off-?"

Ada held up a hand. "You don't need to ask. In fact, if you wouldn't mind I'd like to come to. I need a break from everything, and if I'm honest, I'm curious about your brother. I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but you look like you need some support, so I'm offering it."

Hecate was caught between protesting and being thankful about the offer for help, but she had to admit she didn't really want to go through that flat by herself. She had no idea what to expect since there was a wide gulf between now and the day the useless piece of crow snot had walked out of her life. She was also upset and angry Constance was away, and she wondered if Constance had lied. She had been furious when Hercule had left.

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On Saturday, the only day she and Ada could get away, Hecate was standing tall and straight, resplendent in her black cloak and hat outside the gates of the castle, waiting for Ada to finish giving instructions to Miss Bat and Miss Drill.

"We expect to be gone for some time," she was saying, "but I'll be carrying my pocket mirror so you can reach us in case of trouble. Just look after the school, help the girls and keep everything going while we're gone."

Miss Bat nodded before she sent Hecate a look. "I wish I were coming too, Hecate," she said. "But we will do our best."

"That's all we ask for," Ada smiled before she left the other two teachers and walked towards Hecate. The pair of them used a transportation spell to travel to Hercule's flat. The moment she saw the flat Hecate knew that something must have gone right for her brother, or he had succeeded as an apprentice.

She was impressed despite herself. The flat was fairly large and modern, with its white painted walls and upper storey. It was odd, though, to see a modern flat with magical instruments and a bookshelf full of books about spells, potions, magical creatures, and other magical subjects. The furniture was a strange mix between modern and old, with a polished antique table with a 21st century glass bowl in the centre, while in the living room there was a television mounted on another antique piece of furniture that had books that were centuries old while the couch facing it was modern with a silver Apple laptop on it. Ignoring the computer, Hecate unfastened her cloak and took off her hat and put them neatly on the couch before looking around to see where Ada had gotten to.

The older witch had already taken off her hat and cloak and had picked up a framed photograph, but Ada was blocking her view of the photograph so she couldn't see the picture. Hecate walked over to her friend and peered over her shoulder, and her heart seized when she saw a picture of a younger version of herself, Hercule and Constance.

Ada looked over her shoulder when she sensed her presence. "Is this-?"

"Yes," Hecate nodded, gazing at the picture. "He took a picture of us before he left. That's Constance," Hecate pointed at the older looking brunette who had a serious expression on her face.

Ada looked between all three of the Hardbroom siblings. They all looked young, but she could easily see the same serious expression on their faces, even at that age. She sighed mentally at the thought that this family, like the Hallows, had never been allowed to enjoy their childhoods. Many families were like that, sticklers for magical tradition. The problem with the codes both witches and wizards lived by was the eldest was the one who inherited everything while the youngest received nothing.

Hecate stared at the photograph for a long minute, lost in the memories of the past before she sighed and walked away. "I'm going to check upstairs," she called over her shoulder.

Ada wanted to follow the younger woman, but she didn't. She walked around the lower storey of the flat and examined the books, recognising some of them as being very old and rare magical books. She wouldn't be surprised if Hecate made sure they went into her private library. Hecate loved magical knowledge. Walking around the flat Ada came across a gymnasium, but it looked fairly basic. There were three broomsticks leaned neatly against a wall. In another room, she found herself inside a well-organised potions laboratory, though it didn't look as advanced or as well stocked as the one Hecate maintained back at the school.

Returning to the sitting room, she magically lifted the books off the shelves so she could have a quick look at them. She sat on the couch, but when she leaned back she felt something hard. Frowning in curiosity, Ada reached out and took out an album and stared at it for a moment before she gave into her curiosity.

The first pictures she saw were pictures of Hecate and Constance as babies, and Ada grinned as she took in the adorable images of Hecate and Constance. Oh, she was going to tease her friend for this. She flicked through the pages, smiling at the picture of the three siblings surrounding a woman who was the spitting image of Hecate, only she looked to be as old as Ada herself was now. Their grandmother? The looks on their faces, their smiles, this was what childhood was meant to be.

While she was wondering what had happened to Hecate's grandmother though she doubted the woman herself would actually tell her, Ada flicked through the pages. It seemed Hercule had only been interested in photographs of his family when they'd been young, there were only a few pictures of them as preteens before they'd become teenagers, dressed as serious school children.

Ada flicked through the page, expecting to see more pictures of a younger Hecate, Hercule and Constance, but her mouth opened in surprise when she found herself looking at two people who she knew only too well.

"Hecate," she called. "Hecate, get down here! You need to see this!"

A very concerned Hecate Hardbroom appeared on the upper storey. "What's wrong?" she asked. Hecate had been sorting through Hercule's paperwork, thankful that even at his most careless and nonchalant, he had had it ingrained into his mind to keep the paperwork arranged in a neat and clear manner before she had heard Ada call for her. She hoped Ada wasn't going to hold her back too long - however neat Hercule's paperwork might be, there was still quite a bit of it to sort through.

"Get down here."

Hecate's eyes crinkled in concern and she hurried down the steps. "What is it?"

Ada looked at her. "Did Hercule ever marry, did he have children?"

"Not that I know of, why?"

"I think he did. Sit down and take a look," Ada instructed. Hecate did as she was told, and her eyes widened in shock.

Dominating one of the pages was a picture of a girl with long brunette hair, and while she was a few years younger the two witches knew her very well, escorted by a tall thin woman with curly hair, dressed in a school uniform which wasn't Cackles, but both witches had seen her wear it briefly for a few brief months.

It was Mildred Hubble. Below it was a caption reading 'My daughter.' That was it.

Hecate looked at the photograph, shaking her head. She couldn't believe it, she almost didn't want to believe it.

On the next page was a picture of Hercule and a younger but still recognisable version of Julie Hubble, and she looked like she was having the time of her life with Hercule, who was dressed in a neatly tailored suit. The pair of them looked like they were about to go for a night on the town. Directly below that was another photograph of Hercule and Julie, only the scene didn't look harmonious. Julie's expression was furious while Hercule looked upset himself, but there was also an expression of indifference on his face. The caption below read "The night I told Julie I didn't want to be tied down as a father."

Hecate's hands clenched furiously. The bastard! Julie must have told him she was pregnant, but as always Hercule had thought only of himself! As a result, Julie had raised their child herself, all alone while he continued his womanising antics. Typical.

Ada's face became grim as she tried to picture the scene. She had only a limited amount of knowledge of what Julie Hubble was like in person, but she knew the woman deeply loved her daughter. To have been abandoned in this manner…. She flicked over and found herself smiling at another picture of Mildred, this time as a toddler. "Oh, I never imagined she was cute!"

Hecate didn't say a word, her mind was still torn to pieces by the knowledge she and Constance had a niece that neither had known about because of Hercule's selfishness, but she was shaken by who that niece was. When she heard what Ada had said about Mildred as a toddler, she took a good look at the photograph. The picture was a closeup of Mildred's face, more cherubic than the one she was familiar with, her hair done up in pigtails. Ada was right, Mildred was cute in this picture, but something worried her about the photograph, and that worry grew as Ada gently turned the page again.

The next pictures showed Mildred and Julie shopping at a supermarket (Hecate almost rolled her eyes in amusement at Mildred trying and failing to climb onto the trolley - even at that age she was getting into plenty of trouble), and then she realised what that worry was.

"He stalked them," she whispered.

"What?"

"Hercule. He might have said no to Julie Hubble about being around after Mildred was born," Hecate explained as a dozen possibilities entered her mind, but she knew none of them was relevant now he was dead, "but he must have been curious about his child's life. Why else would he have taken these pictures?"

"Maybe he loved her?"

"If he had loved her, then why didn't he tell her who he was, who she was, and what she was?" Hecate countered before she closed her eyes, grief now overwhelming her as she began to face reality. "Mildred is Hercule's daughter. Hercule and Julie Hubble were together, and I have systematically abused and tormented my own niece. I could have taught her magic, helped her if I had known…"

Ada was surprised when she saw tears start to form in Hecate's eyes. "Let's get out of here, we can come back some other time," she suggested, realising this wasn't doing Hecate any good.

To her surprise and happy relief, Hecate agreed. Together they stood up and they grabbed their cloaks and hats and transported back to the Academy.

As they walked through the gates, Ada had one question on her mind, sending a worried look at Hecate. The younger witch looked as if her entire world had been shattered into a thousand little pieces and all she had left were the shards to rebuild from scratch. "Do you want to keep this between ourselves or do you want to tell the other teachers?"

Hecate sighed and considered it. She was a deeply private woman and didn't like it when people poked and prodded their way into her life, but she respected her colleagues even if sometimes she had a somewhat adversarial relationship with some of them. She nodded before clarifying her decision to her old friend.

Miss Bat, Miss Drill and Mr Rowan-Webb and a few of the other teachers were easy to find, they were in the staffroom with mugs of tea and pieces of paper scattered around them. Miss Bat noticed them come into the staffroom and smiled at them. "You're back early, what's wrong?" she asked when she saw the look of distress on Hecate's face.

The potions mistress took the album and opened it and showed the teachers the photographs of Mildred and her mother. "My stupid brother was with Julie Hubble, meaning Mildred is my niece," she said bluntly.

Ada rolled her eyes and rubbed her forehead while the teachers looked flabbergasted. Hecate could give lessons on how to be blunt. "I found the album in Hercule's flat, there are pictures of Mildred growing up with Julie after Hercule told her he didn't want to be tied down," she explained for the benefit of her colleagues. She gently pried the album out of Hecate's grasp and opened it.

The three teachers sitting at the table leaned in closer to look and a few of the other teachers did the same thing as well. Like Ada, there were smiles all around at the sight of Mildred as a toddler, or when she smiled gummy smiles, but as they flicked through the pages and saw Mildred gradually age until the girl reached the age of either 9 or 10, the photographs ended with a picture of Mildred riding on a broomstick with someone that everyone recognised, even if the distance made it hard for them to be sure, as Maud Spellbody.

There was another caption. It read simply, "I should have known." There was no mention there at all about the revelation Mildred was a witch. There weren't any other pictures. It seemed Hercule, realising his daughter was a witch, had either decided to stop taking photographs chronicling Mildred's life because she might catch him by accident, or he had simply gone away to decide what to do next - the teachers didn't know what was in his mind.

But what they could not understand was why he hadn't revealed himself to Mildred and helped her become a witch. Was it done out of pure selfishness or was he just irresponsible?

Hecate had sat down heavily on a nearby chair, her mind awash with memories of Mildred in her classroom, how she had berated her…. "What do I do?" she whispered.

None of the teachers had the answer. Mildred Hubble's departure and transfer to Pentangles had been a blow to every student in the school, and that wasn't because of their guilt over the trial had driven the girl away, but everyone had underestimated how much the girl had touched their hearts. It was so strange. For someone who wasn't very good at magic at least in their minds though they all knew and felt she had something, Mildred had made up for her poor class performances with her popularity.

"You'll have to tell her, Hecate," Miss Bat surprised all of them with her input. "I was with Mildred when the poor dear asked me for help in the archives, during that challenge suggested by Esmerelda to help the girls develop their teamwork skills. She was desperate to know if she had any relatives who'd passed through this school. There was only her name in the files. She didn't let on but her disappointment was clear."

Hecate's expression became even more pained. Her niece didn't even know anything about her own family. "Do you think she'd be happy knowing that we're related? The things I said to her….. I even remember the look of contempt she sent my way."

"When was this?" Miss Drill asked.

Hecate sighed. "It was before the Spelling Bee," she explained though it felt more like a confession. "I had just told Ethel….and Mildred," her breath caught in her throat at the name, "that Mildred was to stay quiet, and Ethel was to perform in all of the rounds. Mildred glared at me, and then I made one of my comments about her non-magical roots in my panic because the contest was just about to begin, and I saw her look indifferent but disgruntled at the same time."

Ada didn't look impressed, she knew that Hecate had a rather bad habit of insulting Mildred's background. "What happened then?"

"I tried to ask her if she was alright, but she didn't welcome the conversation. She wanted to get on with the contest so then the end of term exams could come, so she could fail them deliberately and be sent home," Hecate went on, feeling sick that a member of her family had been driven to that point, though since Mildred didn't know of their connection it wouldn't have mattered.

Mr Rowan-Webb shook his head. "I guess that makes sense," he commented. "After what happened to her, with the trial, the globe and how everyone reacted to her while under the influence of the spell, it makes sense she would have wanted to leave at the earliest opportunity."

"Why did you brother do this in the first place?" Miss Drill asked.

Hecate grimaced. "I have no idea. Hercule was always like this - he could be showered with love, and yet he treated everyone around him like dirt. He did it to me and my sister, he then did it to Julie Hubble. But what I don't understand is why Hercule's gone to so much trouble to take photographs of Mildred; she might be his daughter, and he had an interest, but why?"

None of the other teachers had an answer for her question, but Algernon had a question for her. "What happened between you and your brother Hecate?"

The dark haired woman grimaced. "Hercule was the second eldest of our family, believe it or not. I was the youngest. When we were in our teens he was approached for an apprenticeship - don't ask me what it is, he never said. He never even said goodbye. Our parents were furious with him for leaving, but they were angrier Constance didn't receive the apprenticeship herself."

A thought had occurred to Ada. "Does Constance have children of her own?"

"Yes, why?" Hecate whispered before she realised what Ada was asking. "Her eldest child is fourteen years old, three years older than Mildred."

Ada sighed in relief, and everyone else looked relieved. While they wanted Mildred to know the truth of her paternity, they knew if she was told she was the eldest child of the Hardbroom family, then she would probably run a mile away.

Mildred had seen what being the eldest was like. She had seen how Agatha had been twisted into something vicious all because she wanted the Cackle family legacy and didn't care who got hurt in the process, she had seen how Ethel Hallow behaved around her elder sister. There was no way Mildred would want anything like that, not in a thousand years.

"How do I tell her, tell them?" Hecate asked herself, referring to Mildred and Julie at the same time while all the time asking herself if Julie had wondered deep inside if she and Hercule were related to one another before she discounted it; Julie Hubble didn't seem the type to hide something like that, she would have told them or Mildred. Maybe she had wondered, but unless Hecate asked her…. No, that was a bad idea since the woman already knew what had happened at the school with the globe, she wouldn't welcome anyone from the Academy dropping in.

Hecate wasn't sure which one she was dreading - telling Mildred or Julie. One thing was for sure, she was dreading telling both of them.

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What do you think?


	11. Chapter 11 Unicorns & Griffins

Disclaimer - I don't own the Worst Witch.

A little treat for all of you.

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Unicorns and Griffins.

It was funny, Hecate mused to herself as she prepared to go to bed after spending the past three hours trying to get to grips with her paperwork and catch up on what was new to the pile. Contrary to popular belief she didn't really like the paperwork but she knew she had to stay on top of the lot before she was inundated. But for tonight she found it next to impossible to concentrate on her work, and she knew why.

It had been two days since she and Ada had gone to Hercule's flat to clean the place out and sort through what paperwork her brother had had before he'd died. The paperwork was resting in a corner of her office and her suite just waiting for her to find the time after putting a sizeable dent in the paperwork she'd been accumulating for the past week, but Hecate didn't know if she could look through it after the revelation she and Ada had discovered in the flat.

The revelation Mildred Hubble was her niece. Hecate closed her eyes as her mind conjured memories of the impressionable young girl who had fallen into the school pond along with Maud Spellbody, cheated on the potions test after taking Ethel Hallow's ingredients and then saved the school from Agatha Cackle. But those memories were overshadowed by the knowledge she had been trying to drive the girl away. Mildred was a witch. There was no doubt about that at all in Hecate's mind. The reason she had never wanted the girl in the school was because Cackles lacked the facilities to help educate a girl from a non-magical family though right now it was likely there would be others attending the school. Hecate remembered the meeting she and Ada had had with Pippa Pentangle only weeks ago.

Pippa had given both her and Ada some good and strong advice about how to teach students from non-magical families, and while the traditionalists would probably frown at the thought of girls learning their skills from scratch and having to spend a great deal of time learning how to fly a broomstick which was a sharp contrast to what happened with Mildred, Hecate knew Ada would take it on board.

Ada was determined to try to make up for what went wrong with Mildred. Hecate closed her eyes. For someone who had caused a lot of trouble during her time here at the Academy, Mildred had certainly made a sizeable impact on the school. Maud and Enid were both close-knit but there was a tangible feeling of guilt in the air every time Hecate met the two girls.

Hecate shook her head knowing precisely why her brain was betraying her with thoughts about Mildred Hubble. While she had been delighted and shocked Hercule had even had a child, there was still something that didn't make any sense at all. She had pointed the matter out to Ada and the other teachers and they realised she had had a point; if Hercule had gotten Julie pregnant and he passed on his magic, it wouldn't be a daughter who received the gift of magic. It would be a boy. It was one of the fundamental principles of magic and yet Hercule had either forgotten that little detail or he had never learnt it.

But it made no sense. All of the teachers knew of Mildred's obsession with finding out if any of her family had been magical or not. They had heard the details from Miss Bat, who'd described how disappointed the girl had been when she'd discovered she was the only member of her family to ever attend the Academy.

A part of Hecate had been a little bit contemptuous towards the girl for just relying on one measly little archive like the one in Cackles, but where else could Mildred have discovered the information? She had only experienced two places of magic - Cackles and Pentangles - as far as she knew, she didn't know enough about the Pentangles structure to be sure, but knowing Pippa as she did, Hecate expected Mildred to be experiencing more of their world soon enough.

Pippa would definitely want Mildred to know more about the magical world and its community to help her integrate more as a witch, and as much as Hecate was reluctant to admit it to herself, Pippa was probably a better teacher in that corner since no one in Cackles had taken the trouble to take the girl out and give her more knowledge about their community. Such knowledge would've gone a long way to helping Mildred.

Mildred's quest to learn more about her family was well known since the girl hadn't really kept it or her aims a secret. But if she was Hercule's daughter then how in the name of Circe, Merlin and Morgana, had he managed to birth a witch when all the known laws of magic said a witch could only be born from the maternal lines, and a wizard could only be born from the paternal lines?

It made no sense to her and Ada. After a few minutes of trying, and failing, to concentrate on her paperwork again, Hecate stood up, scattering the papers from the last potions test. It was hopeless! She couldn't concentrate, she needed to find out the truth, and she knew only one person who could give them to her.

After composing a quick note for Ada incase the headmistress came looking for her and donning her cloak and hat and the photo album before she triggered a transportation spell. Hecate had never been to the Hubble's flat before, and when she arrived she found the place in virtual darkness. The curtains weren't drawn over the windows or the balcony door, letting in streams of light that created vivid shadows over the knick-knacks and furniture in the flat. The light from the estate only served to make the shadows seem more ominous.

Standing in the darkness, Hecate was now questioning the wisdom behind her decision to come here unannounced and probably unwelcome. She and Julie Hubble had never gotten along and she doubted that things would improve after what had happened with Mildred. But she still needed to try.

"Miss Hubble?" she called out softly; she had read somewhere that the walls in some flats weren't too thick, the last thing she wanted to go through was an encounter with their police in case the neighbours heard her, but she couldn't think of any other way to find out if Julie was here or not. It was quite late. Flicking her hand, she summoned a candlestick holder in her hand and explored the flat while looking for Julie. She didn't pay much attention to the decor, there would be plenty of time do that later when she and Julie were talking.

One of the bedrooms was clearly Mildred's. It was a lot more spacious when you compared it to one of the rooms, certainly her own, at Cackles. But the bedroom that interested her the most was Julie's.

The woman wasn't there.

Hecate tried to remember what Julie Hubble did as a job, but she had spent a lot of her time trying hard to ignore the existence of the Hubbles, but now she wished she had bothered to memorise more about the family. She cursed herself for being so jaded, so cowardly and so bigoted towards two people simply because they hadn't grown up with magic around them. But that was in the past.

After she let out a sigh of frustration she left the bedroom and headed back into the living room - and she stopped when she heard the scratching of a key in the lock. Hecate stood there, feeling stupid as she stood there, feeling like a rabbit caught in the light of a spell at night, as the door opened and Julie Hubble walked in. Or rather, stumbled in, muttering and grumbling under her breath but Julie quickly stopped in surprise when she realised who was in her home, but her face was still in blackness Hecate couldn't read her expression. But she could read the body language; before she had stepped into the flat and noticed her, she had looked like she was a second away from collapsing in exhaustion. Now she was alert.

More than that, she was annoyed, particularly when she realised who was in her flat.

"What the hell are you doing here in my flat? Bit ironic, don't you think? Not so long ago, you were accusing my daughter of being a thief, but here you are now, in my home, unannounced and unwelcome. Did you see anything worth stealing Miss Hardbroom or are you just planning on bleeding Mildred and me dry of what we've got?"

Hecate winced. She had known this meeting would be difficult, but in her haste to find out more about her brother's relationship with this difficult and irritating woman she had not stopped to think about waiting for a more convenient time. "I need to speak to you," she replied, hoping Julie wasn't going to make this harder than it was.

"What makes you think I want to speak to you?" Julie asked, her exhaustion making her voice more biting than normal, as she stepped into the flat and closed the door and flicked a light on. Hecate took a good long look at Julie and saw the nurses' uniform she was wearing. Her expression was worn and very tired. Well, that explained why she was late back home. Hecate had spent the past twenty minutes trying to find a suitable enough way to speak to Julie, but it was no longer possible. Any hope she'd had of diplomacy had gone out of the window. It was clear Julie wasn't going to take anything she said well after what happened with that damn Star globe.

Instead, she decided to show her. She took out the album from the pocket-lined into her cloak and opened it on one of the appropriate pages. Julie's face quickly went from angry to surprised, and then concerned.

"Where did you get this?" she asked at last, no longer hostile. But that didn't last long. "The bastard! He was stalking me and my daughter!" she snarled.

Hecate said nothing about Julie's hostile attitude towards Hercule. He did stalk her and Mildred.

She'd found the pages where Mildred was a child and had come to the same conclusion Hecate had earlier.

"Hercule's dead," Hecate said, mentally kicking herself for being so brief.

Julie looked up at her, the anger in her expression melting off her features as she regarded Hecate with confusion. "Hercule's dead?" she whispered in surprise before she shook her head. "How did he die? What has it got to do with you?"

"He died in a car crash-," Hecate began but Julie interrupted. "Typical," she whispered before she realised she'd interrupted. "Sorry, carry on."

But Hecate wanted to know a bit more about her brother's life. "Why do you say typical?"

Julie gave a tired smile. She was clearly more exhausted than the witch suspected, but she had enough energy to say this. Magic only knew what she had dealt with at the hospital tonight, Hecate thought to herself. "Hercule loved fast cars," she explained. "I lost count of the number of times we were forced to pull over by the police when he exceeded the speed limits. Scared me every time."

At the mention of cars, Hecate fought down the urge to shudder. She had seen enough and heard enough about the non-magical world to know how dangerous their cars were. Being a witch, she didn't need to worry about things like that. But she knew how easy it was for a car to get smashed or crushed to pieces.

"Hercule had five loves - money, cars, alcohol, women, and living well. That's it," Julie went on, but she looked down at the photographs in the album Hercule had made, and she focused her tired eyes on the pages. "Why are you here, Miss Hardbroom, and why do you have this album?"

It was time, to be honest. "Hercule was my brother," Hecate admitted. "I don't know whether he used a different name when you were seeing him, but whatever it was, his real name was Hercule Hardbroom."

Julie puffed her cheeks out in thought for a second before she blew it out. "You're Hercule's sister? I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but while I'm sorry for your loss he was a liar and a lech."

"A lech?" Hecate repeated, she didn't know that term.

"He eyed women continually; it was quite annoying whenever he took me out on a date, only to see him eye up a redhead with bigger breasts than with what I've got," Julie explained, her very tone telling Hecate there really had been such an incident. "He also made promises that he had had no intention of keeping. But why does Hercule have pictures of Mildred in the album?"

She flicked through the pages just as Hecate was about to reply before she took a deep breath. "Ah, I see," Julie whispered to herself. She shook her head. "I always wondered if the idiot heard me, clearly he didn't."

"What do you mean? And why is it you and Hercule never married? I understand what you mean by him being lecherous, he never did have much sense. I mean, if he's Mildred's father-," Hecate was cut off when Julie snapped, clearly at the end of her patience.

"Mildred is not Hercule's daughter!" Julie's voice wasn't a shout, but it wasn't a whisper either.

Hecate looked nonplussed. "But, the album-," she tried to say before she was cut off again by a frustrated shout that was growing in Julie's throat, but the woman controlled herself with a visible effort. Hecate kept quiet, realising this woman was on the verge of an eruption.

"Miss Hardbroom, I have just spent the past seven hours at the hospital, and I am tired and hungry," Julie said. "Listen, make yourself comfortable on the couch while I get something to eat, and I'll tell you the truth. Something Hercule clearly didn't realise."

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Hecate had expected Julie Hubble to cook something, so she was surprised when she came back with a bowl of cereal. "Will that be enough for you?" she asked curiously, wondering if this was typical for Julie's diet.

"Yeah, I had something to eat earlier during a break, but I'm usually too tired to cook when I get home after a night shift," Julie replied. Hecate waited impatiently while the other woman ate her 'meal' but she wasn't in any hurry. Besides, she had to admit this flat was not hers, she had no right to tell the owner to hurry up. She had eaten a couple of spoonfuls before she put the bowl on the coffee table.

"I had been a nurse for a few years when I met Hercule," she began, "I won't bore you with the story of how we met, it wasn't anything special. But suffice to say, I was taken in by him. It was only later that I realised that Hercule was not interested in a long-term commitment."

Hecate nodded and sighed. "That sounds like him," she commented.

Julie went on. "We were together five months," she remembered. "At first he was charming, considerate. He took me out to the movies, flashy clubs and restaurants. One of the only downsides to being with him as he drove like a maniac, another was he didn't mind eyeing other women. But we were intimate. We had sex quite a few times, but after a few months, I was a little bit curious about why I wasn't pregnant. I had a friend who owed me a favour test my fertility. I'm quite fertile, so that left Hercule."

Julie's face became sadder. "You don't want to know what I had to do to get a sample off to the labs so he could be checked, but the result was clear. Hercule couldn't have kids. We later had an argument about something completely unrelated, and our relationship just changed overnight. He had always been one to notice other women when I was with him, but from that point onwards our relationship soured. I was stood up half a dozen times, he would openly and shamelessly flirt and ogle other women, and he kept driving like a maniac. Sometimes whenever we went to a bar or a club, he deliberately caused a scene. He was like a little kid throwing a tantrum."

Julie grabbed her bowl and took another few spoonfuls of the cereal before putting it back on the table with a tired, disgruntled sigh. "Anyway, after a date where he forced himself to have sex with me, treating the whole thing as something he didn't really want to do but felt like it was more like an unpleasant chore his parents had given him, one night after we had a little split, he called me and told me he'd make it up to me by taking me out to this restaurant. I waited outside for two hours. I was so angry I went home. Hercule left a message on the answer phone saying he'd make it up to me and that he was sorry, but I didn't hear anything back from him. I didn't call him back either. I was just so frustrated by the lies and the promises, the lack of commitment to the relationship that I decided he wasn't coming back."

She sighed. "I was visiting my sister Mo when I met him," she mumbled, lost in her memories.

"Who?" Hecate whispered.

"Dave," Julie smiled wistfully as she remembered him. "He was a trainee plumber at the time, working with someone. I dunno what he's doing now. Anyway, we started dating, and that led to other things."

Hecate blushed bright red, wondering if her own lack of experience with men despite her was making her wonder if she really wanted to know the sordid details.

Fortunately, Julie went on. "Dave and I were together for a while, but he had to leave when he received a job offer or something along those lines. I don't know where he is now, I don't even know if he's married and has kids," her breath hitched in her throat as she bit down on her lip to stop herself crying at the thought. She had dearly wanted to be married to him.

Hecate didn't know what to say. She'd been angry that Mildred wasn't her niece after all, but hearing this….. she cursed Hercule's irresponsible attitude and the way he'd treated this woman. Not all of it was Hercule's fault, not directly at least. Finding out he was infertile added a new dimension to the equation, but Hecate wasn't sure how to feel except it was kind of a shame because it meant there weren't other little Hardbroom's running about.

"I lost touch with him before I found out I was pregnant with Mildred," Julie's voice brought her back to the present and Hecate paid attention to what she said next. "But when one boyfriend leaves, the old one comes back."

"Hercule."

"Who else?" Julie asked with a wry, but tired smile. She sighed. "He phoned me out of the blue, said he wanted to meet with me. At that point, I realised I wasn't going to get married, and I was already pregnant and was showing. The moment Hercule saw me, he noticed the pregnancy, it wasn't invisible after all. We had had sex not long before he'd stood me up, so he naturally made assumptions. Hercule began talking about not wanting to be committed to a relationship, to not be tied down in a marriage, said he wouldn't be a great father. He just wouldn't shut up when I kept trying to tell him I wasn't pregnant with his child but with someone else's baby. I even asked him why I would want him involved, but I don't think he heard me ask him that."

Hecate closed her eyes as she pictured the scene in her mind, the image helped by the photograph that had been burnt along with the other into her memory; Hercule standing in one of his smart suits, speaking over Julie, who was trying hard to get her point across while he went on about not wanting to be tied down to a family.

She quickly realised Julie had stopped speaking, and so she opened her eyes and found the other woman looking at her curiously. But before she could say anything, Julie took her silence as permission to carry on.

"Hercule just wouldn't let me get a word in, and I didn't have a clue if he was even listening to what I was saying. Anyway, I finally thought 'sod it' and I lost my temper and slapped him across his face to shock him enough to shut him up. I told him I no longer wanted him anywhere near me, so he didn't need to do anything for the baby. I also told him he couldn't be committed enough to run a day-care centre for a week. I didn't know at the time if he'd heard what I'd said about the baby not being his, or he'd misheard me, but it's clear he misheard me."

Julie closed her eyes; as soon as she got this out of the way, the better off she'd be. "Both Dave and Hercule were out of my life by the time Mildred was born," she said. "I lost track of Dave and couldn't tell him he was the proud daddy of a beautiful little girl. I raised Mildred alone, though I had my mum and my sister to help. They've been a godsend."

Hecate closed her eyes. "I'm sorry," she whispered; part of her wondered why she was saying sorry. It was the part of her that had been dismayed by the thought she was related to Mildred through the same blood she'd been related to Hercule.

It was her compassionate side that was feeling sorry for Julie having to cope and struggle with her brother's attitude and his here today, gone tomorrow habit.

Julie seemed surprised by the apology. "Sorry for what?" she asked. "I'm happy; I have my family. I've got Mildred. But she's still trying to learn how and why she's got her powers. She discounted her father not long before she began her search. Apparently, Maud or Enid told her only the maternal lines can create a witch."

Hecate was surprised and she couldn't hide her shock Mildred Hubble had found that much out of magical inheritance.

Julie sighed at the expression on the woman's face. "That's the reason I don't like you, Miss Hardbroom," she whispered as she ate her makeshift meal. "You think just because Mildred and I aren't from a magical family, you think we're idiots. Didn't it occur to you that if you gave Mildred a bit of carrot, she might have found answers for herself? Did you really imagine that if someone told her something she wouldn't take it onboard? We're not stupid. Mildred is purely innocent of not knowing magic; you and the others at Cackles had no right to look down at her for not understanding how magic worked."

Hecate didn't like the slights against her, but Julie went on. "If things had been different, and if Hercule was both fertile and responsible, and Mildred did become a witch, what would you have done if you had learnt she was a witch from a woman who's not magical?"

"I don't know," Hecate lied to her face. She and Constance were both similar in personality; if Hercule had had a union with a non-magical woman like Julie, they would try hard to annul it, but she didn't have any intention of telling Julie that.

Fortunately, Julie didn't press the issue. In fact, her expression darkened a little bit. Hecate wondered for the very first time if this woman was a mind reader.

Suddenly she felt she had overstayed her welcome.

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Mildred was grinning from ear to ear as she petted the Griffin. They'd terrified her at first, particularly when the magical zoologist had warned her and the class how dangerous and formidable Griffins could be, and since their beaks were longer than Mildred's forearm, she believed them wholeheartedly.

Their beaks and talons looked sharp enough to shred metal, and Mildred definitely didn't want to be on the receiving end of one those sharp points if the Griffin was furious. The magical animal squawked a little bit and gently nudged her in the chest. Mildred was once more thankful that her natural love and empathy for animals allowed her to make an easy bond with the Griffins.

Pentangles offered a magi-zoology course, but because of the sheer needs of the animals, there weren't any Griffins, unicorns, or any other magical animal on the grounds. But Miss Pentangle had a few connections with a few magi-zoology reserves and parks that the students were allowed to visit in order to learn about the creatures. Mildred loved the magi-zoology classes because they opened her eyes to the prospect of seeing different animals, but since the class only visited the parks once every month or so she'd missed out on the last one. When she'd heard she was coming to the park today she had been delighted, but when she had met the Griffins she had been terrified.

The Griffins were massive, they were easily as big as a land rover but they were far quicker and more agile thanks to their wings. When they'd appeared to the Pentangles' students, their teacher and the park keepers had warned the students not to make any sudden moves. Mildred, typically, was the only student closest to them, and so the Griffins had approached her so quickly that before she even had time to blink they had surrounded her.

But the Griffins were now studying her, sniffing at her curiously and one of them was gently nudging her.

Without any fear, Mildred had stroked the glossy feathers of the neck, deciding to treat the Griffins with the same fearlessness she used to approach all other animals.

It seemed to work; the Griffins seemed to appreciate bravery more than they did fear.

The only Pentangles students were both amazed and terrified by the Griffins, but Mildred's confidence seemed to give them the confidence they needed in turn. It was Sapphire who approached the Griffins first, the girl needed to summon all the bravery she had in her body to just touch one of the Griffins, and after that, the entire class were enjoying their company.

One of the Griffins' newborn babies was particularly taken with Mildred, and the girl felt really flattered and she gently stroked and petted the baby in case she hurt it by accident. Sapphire sat down next to her, a similar smile on her face. "You sure know how to make friends, Millie."

"I like all animals," Mildred replied, wondering to herself if she should tell her friend about the charities she and her mum contributed to on a monthly basis to help animals make it through the next 300 years, but she quickly decided against it.

Sapphire was about to say something when Mr Lima, the teacher of the magi-zoology class approached, his face was bright with excitement. He was a thin wizard who had surprisingly muscular arms. He reminded Mildred of a picture she'd seen of Victorian bakers, but he had a passion for magical animals than he did for baking.

"I say, Mildred, you seem to have a gift for magical zoology," he commented, his eyes looking like they were filling with tears at the sight of the young Griffin who was currently nudging Mildred's stomach gently. "Would you like to see the Unicorns?"

Mildred's eyes crinkled. She wondered if there was an ulterior motive behind the question; if there was one thing she had learnt in the last few months it was that some people had something in their minds that wasn't generally meant to be nice.

"No fair," one of Mildred's classmates moaned, making the brunette witch flinch. "How come she gets to see the Unicorns, it will take us months to see them!"

"Maybe if you concentrated on your work, you'll see them," Lima replied bitingly before he turned back to Mildred.

"Is it possible for me, Sapphire, Zac and Mary to see them?" Mildred asked, her tone suggestive but firm. She wasn't going to back down. Mary was the girl who'd spoken out.

The professor blinked as he realised it and he turned to the keepers, who nodded agreeably. "Okay," Lima replied.

After saying goodbye to a disappointed Griffin baby, Mildred was led to the Unicorn pastures with Mary, Sapphire, and Zac. She couldn't have left some of her class out, it wasn't in her nature to be selfish, but the professor had said only they could see the Unicorns because they had a vast amount to do with the Griffins before they could switch to Unicorns.

The Unicorns were every bit as magnificent as Mildred had imagined them to be, and the moment they saw them, Mildred and Sapphire fell in love with them. Mary herself had to work hard to stop herself from gushing over them as well. Zac seemed to like them as well, but like most boys, he didn't see the point in gushing over them.

Mildred didn't pay her friend much attention as she stroked and petted one of the Unicorns, taking care to avoid the horns. The light wasn't amazing, but being close to the Unicorns was like being close to a gentle silver light. They seemed to radiate light in the same way glowworms did, though Mildred didn't like the comparison.

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Miss Bluebell was probably Mildred's favourite teacher, though if she were honest she preferred all of them and Miss Pentangle who made sure all of the lessons taught at the school were more diverse than the collection of lessons she'd been forced to endure at Cackles. But there was something about enchanting that Mildred liked more than any other class she was taught, it could've been the fact Enchanting was a subject taught from scratch or it was a lesson where she could channel her imagination.

But that didn't mean the lessons couldn't be difficult. Miss Bluebell, once she'd shown them the principles of a specific aspect and taught the introductory lesson to a new branch of enchanting, was every bit as demanding as Miss Hardbroom could be. But unlike HB, Miss Bluebell was more gentle and didn't instantly dismiss failure. Instead, she encouraged her students to do their best and to try to reach their potential. Miss Bluebell seemed to have learnt the lesson Hardbroom had never learnt; just because some students can't do something at once didn't automatically mean others couldn't they only needed a bit of time.

Mildred didn't fall into that category, though while she found some of the lessons challenging, she loved them. She loved learning new things about magic, especially enchanting. Miss Bluebell didn't seem to mind herself whenever Mildred didn't or couldn't immediately get something right the first time around. In fact, she seemed pleased and even told Mildred to practice the magic in her room whenever she had the chance to see if she could do better.

And so Mildred did. It was Miss Bluebell who had made Mildred realise that one of her mistakes at Cackles was never really experimenting with her powers or learning about the code, but thanks to the lessons she was receiving and the extra help she and other students from the non-magical families were getting, Mildred felt herself becoming more confident about magic.

Things were definitely looking up for Mildred since she'd arrived, though while Beatrice Black was still at the school, she didn't let that bother her too much. Beatrice wasn't the only bully in the school, but those others weren't really on Mildred's list of things to worry about.

Then there was Merlin…. For a girl who'd whispered to Ethel Hallow during the Spelling Bee that Zac was just a boy, Mildred could admit to herself she was a bit hypocritical when it came to her thoughts of Merlin, but ever since that day where Beatrice shoved her into his arms, she started seeing the boy more and more. When she'd learnt his name, she wondered if this Merlin was better looking than the old one.

Aloud.

Needless to say, her friends had teased her mercilessly about him for days. Merlin had started spending a little more time with her, but unlike where Mildred had seen Ethel and Felicity gush and sigh around Zac, Merlin seemed a little uncertain about what she'd say to him, but unlike her former schoolmates, Mildred had more experience around boys. It wasn't long before she gained some confidence in him, and it didn't take long for them to develop a friendship, and now Merlin and Mildred were often seen close to one another.

It was at this point in time where Mildred discovered she had a talent.

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Mildred was amused when she returned to her room, her brain still reeling from the chorus Sapphire had made before Miss Miller came and told her to shut up, though in more polite language; "Mildred and Merlin sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" But instead of being truly embarrassed, she was actually feeling smugly happy.

She and Merlin had been snuggling in the common, and she had to admit he was a lovely cushion. If he'd tried to kiss her then Mildred would probably not have protested. She was smiling dreamily while she had a gentle flush to her cheeks at the thought of her and Merlin kissing happily. She only hoped Sapphire didn't cheer her on, she'd be embarrassed if they did kiss and she was cheering her on, but if Beatrice Black said anything, then she would be forced to see how far Mildred had come in magical casting. The brunette haired witch didn't really care if she got into trouble with Miss Pentangle over it, but it would be justified in her mind.

She entered her bedroom and headed over to the desk. Her nights are pretty much the same as always; she would spend an hour or so studying, then she would try to chat with her mum, or even Maud and Enid, and then she would paint or draw. Thinking about Maud and Enid made Mildred smile a little uncertainty; their old friendship would probably never be restored to what it had been before that disaster with the globe, but at least they were now on speaking terms.

While many people would probably be surprised by Mildred's decision to become friendly with those two again, she'd done it because she hadn't wanted to simply turn them away.

But for tonight, Mildred wasn't really in the mood to use her mirror to call anybody, and besides it was unlikely Maud or Enid were in the mirror room back at Cackles (she still thought it was neat the students at Pentangles were allowed to call their friends and families in their own rooms instead of having to rely on a single mirror but figured it was only because the staff didn't want their students to be distracted from their studies), and she didn't really feel like talking to anyone tonight though she could try mum later.

Shrugging to herself, Mildred took some paper from a drawer and set about drawing something. Her new bedroom walls were practically covered with all kinds of paintings and drawings, but the best thing was each student had their own key to their rooms and were expected to lock them whenever they left, so no more beds being upturned and reduced to a pile of warped metal, and Tabby certainly approved of the luxurious surroundings.

It took her 20 minutes to finish drawing out the Unicorn herd she'd seen the other day. After that, she began drawing in the details, thankful that her artistic eyes had allowed her to capture and remember all the details of the Unicorns despite almost being blinded.

The picture she was drawing was going to be a pure pencil drawing, she doubted that even if she could find the right medium, paints or pastels would do much good in highlighting the beauty of the Unicorns which radiated light in the manner they had done. When she was finished with the picture, she pulled back and admired her work.

Situated in the pasture, with the trees surrounding a grassy field where the grass was allowed to run wild like, Mildred had spent a great deal of her time trying her best focusing on three of the Unicorns, knowing that the further away they were, the trickier it was to draw them. When she was finished she put the pencil down, the lead was worn down to a nub, and she leaned back in her chair while she focused on the drawing.

Mildred could honestly say she was truly pleased with the way the drawing had gone, and she smiled at it. Her mum had sometimes told her that she should become an artist, and said she had a talent that could make some of the old masters weep with joy. She wasn't entirely sure by what that meant, but she had taken it on board.

As she focused on the drawing, she wished that magical paintings and drawings could move, like in the Harry Potter books and movies. Unfortunately, the pictures and paintings were as static in the real magical world as they were in the non-magical world. Mildred wasn't sure why that could be; surely there could be a spell someone could invent which would be enough to make the pictures move?

She sighed, such a thing would really bring out a picture. The Unicorn picture she'd drawn wasn't beautiful in her mind, though other people would argue about that. But she, like many artists, didn't seem satisfied with her own work.

Neigh!

Mildred went still. What was that? Had her time in this school and Cackles finally driven her up the wall? Yes, that was probably it, she decided to herself.

She got up and was about to get something to drink when she heard another neigh followed by a distinctive horses whine, and she focused on the picture. Her eyes shot open and she gaped at the picture in awe.

The unicorns were moving!

Mildred blinked in surprise before she closed her eyes and forced the unicorns to stop. When she opened her eyes, the unicorns were as still as they had been before. Mildred had been a witch for a short time, and she knew not to discount something like this. She closed her eyes and thought very hard about having one of the unicorns prance about the pasture. She found herself smiling when she heard a neigh and a whine, and she opened her eyes again and saw a unicorn prance about the pasture, but that wasn't the only thing she was amazed by.

The unicorn was trying to nudge one of the other unicorns, clearly trying to make it move.

Mildred smiled and concentrated on the second unicorn before she added a third. Soon the entire herd was moving.

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"This. Is. Un-believable!" Pippa Pentangle whispered.

After experimenting with the unicorn picture, Mildred had spent the next half an hour seeing if she could make the other pictures she'd drawn and painted move and make sounds. She had quite a collection in her bedroom, but she definitely wanted to make sure this wasn't a fluke. Once certain it wasn't a fluke, Mildred had then called Miss Bluebell since she was sure this was under enchanting.

Miss Bluebell had been surprised by the excitable Mildred Hubble mirroring her and asking her to come to her bedroom, but ten minutes after seeing what Mildred had learnt she could do and Lexi was mirroring Pippa and Karen into the bedroom.

The three teachers had been watching Mildred make the pictures move before Miss Miller had a brainwave and left the room for a few seconds. When she came back she was carrying a black framed photograph of a woman who she resembled.

"Mildred, do you think you could make this picture move?" Karen asked, handing the picture over.

Mildred nodded and took the photograph and studied it. The picture had been taken quite a long time ago, but Mildred closed her eyes and visualised the woman's smile to be a little wider, and maybe wave. But she and Karen were a little disappointed. The picture didn't move.

Mildred instantly apologised. "I'm sorry, Miss Miller, but I can't make it move."

Karen smiled at the girl though she did her best to keep the sorrow out of her face to not alarm the girl or make her feel too guilty, "It's okay. I was just seeing if this ability worked with anything other than what you've drawn or painted."

"Mm, that's a good point. It looks like you can only make something move if you've made it, Millie," Pippa said.

Mildred smiled at the woman; while she was still a bit uncertain about the woman's motives for bringing her to Pentangles, she was grateful she had, and unlike Miss Cackle she was a little looser though she was unafraid to make it known she was a powerful witch and headmistress.

Miss Pentangle had begun calling her Millie a few days ago. Miss Cackle had never called her that, and truthfully the idea of the old woman saying it to her brought some strange images to her mind.

Mildred didn't really mind the woman calling her that, in fact, it was nice to have a teacher who was informal enough to say that. "I guess that makes sense," she commented. "Kinda like how everyone's got their own style for doing things, like how they dress, wear their hair, or even how they write. It works for them, not for others."

Pippa and the other teachers nodded in understanding. "What do you think, Lexi?" Pippa asked.

"I have heard of something like this, but it's not a common gift even among enchanters. Even I can't do it," Miss Bluebell admitted.

Mildred felt guilty and a little overwhelmed. "I'm sorry, Miss Bluebell-."

"Don't be," Miss Bluebell interrupted firmly; why did this girl have to feel guilty about every little thing? "Mildred, the whole point about teaching is to teach kids how to do things, and if they've got a talent then it's fantastic! You should be pleased!"

Mildred wasn't sure how to feel; while she had come a long way since she'd arrived at Pentangles, she still wasn't completely recovered from the hell she'd received because of Hardbroom and Gullet; while Miss Gullet hadn't been as extreme as Hardbroom, she had made up for it with her general attitude and manner. Between the two witches, you knew who was the most genuine. Hardbroom never put on airs and graces the way Gullet had done.

No. Miss Gullet was more insidious than that. When Mildred had first met the woman, long before she'd discovered what she'd done to Mr Rowan-Webb, she'd thought that Gullet was nice though her obsession with health and safety made her a little bit unpopular. The woman was all smiles and charm before the first lesson, and then she showed how nasty she could be. And Mildred was a well-chosen target, with her lack of knowledge when it came to magic.

Mildred had had dozens of detentions at Cackles before she'd come to Pentangles, and while many believed they were assigned by Miss Hardbroom it had been Miss Gullet who'd assigned the most of them. Miss Gullet had never missed an opportunity to mentally torment Mildred, and she seemed to take an offence a "non-witch" was in her class and had never allowed Mildred to catch a break.

She knew that if Miss Hardbroom had not been present at the time then Gullet would have made sure her punishment for getting the spell wrong in that class where she'd transformed Ethel into a pig because she'd been slacking off with Enid far worse. Mildred still kicked herself for getting herself roped into that bit of fun, seeing now that unless Enid made an effort, she might be tarred with the same brush as Beatrice Black.

But the point was those detentions she'd had to endure had made Mildred more than afraid and a little concerned about drawing too much attention to herself, but unfortunately, her tendency to get into situations beyond her control made that difficult. When Miss Gullet's crime had been discovered, Mildred had been delighted the woman was going, but she had been worried about the wizard teacher.

Mr Rowan-Webb had been kinder and more patient, but when the star globe happened he had turned on her like all the others, and that had hurt her.

"I am," Mildred admitted, "but what do I do with it? Won't I need to work on it?"

"Definitely. I think I should bring a few other enchanting experts into the school, is that alright Pippa?" Miss Bluebell asked the headmistress. Pippa nodded after a moment's thought. "Okay, that sounds like a good idea, but I'd like you to meet with the other teachers, Mildred," Miss Pentangle said seriously, "to see if charms or transfiguration can help you learn more about this while you work with the enchanters. Is that okay?"

"I think the more help I have with this, the better," Mildred replied to her headmistress.

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After the teachers had finally left Mildred to her own devices, the young witch decided she had had enough of magic for the time being, and she decided to mirror call her mother. The image of the mirror coalesced after she'd placed the card with her mother's mirror number and address on it, and an image of her mother pottering about the flat appeared. Mildred grinned.

"Hi mum!" she called.

Julie's reaction was classic, and because her back was turned she had jumped when Mildred had called out. Mildred couldn't help but laugh at her reaction. Julie glared at her daughter. "Mildred," she chided, though the loudness bordered on shouting. "I nearly had a heart attack."

Mildred instantly stopped laughing. Her mother rarely shouted at her, preferring to use soft words that were pointed, she didn't need to shout at her. "Mum, what's wrong?" Mildred asked when she saw the look on her mother's face.

Julie sighed. "I had a visit last night, Mildred."

Mildred frowned in confusion. "Who from?"

"Miss Hardbroom."

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Ooh, how do you think this will go when Miss Hardbroom and Mildred meet? Believe me, they will.


	12. Chapter 12 Becoming an Enchantress

Becoming an Enchantress.

Mildred Hubble had discovered she had a gift with enchanting very quickly because she was an imaginative and creative girl. Sure, she could imagine and even picture a witch like Hardbroom telling her the subject was useless simply because it didn't involve making a potion. When she had first begun her schooling at Pentangles, she had quickly learnt Charms was a subform of Enchantment, but where charms explored the spell side enchanting explored the intricacies of magic. It was similar to how alchemy was different from potions, because in alchemy while you used magical ingredients you didn't add magic to the work.

Thinking of Miss Hardbroom made Mildred grimace. It had been two days since she'd mirror-called her mother and she'd been told about what Hardbroom had wanted. But she wasn't likely to contact the woman and confront her. No, Mildred was content where she was. Let Miss Hardbroom and Miss Cackle stay out of her life now, and they could get on with theirs.

Besides she was having too much fun to care about them.

Let Hardbroom believe her subject was the only form of magic that mattered, she was truly feeling like a witch for the first time in her life instead of a little girl who was an outsider.

Working with Miss Bluebell before the other enchanting experts arrived at Pentangles gave the brunette witch a chance to explore the art manipulation gift she had.

Miss Bluebell had told her shortly after she'd revealed this gift about art manipulation. Basically, it was the power to create, shape and manipulate the arts and whatever medium was used to make it. "Some enchantresses are capable of shaping and manipulating art. Because art is a means of expressing oneself, its something an enchantress can manipulate. But don't listen to anything someone says about the magic, that it's meaningless. It's special and its just not very common, many enchanters with imagination can do something with their minds but some enchanters don't have the means to do it," the enchanting mistress explained.

"Why not?" Mildred had asked her curiously.

"I don't know. But I think that has something to do with whatever the witch or wizard is good at themselves; for instance, some people are only able to make potions, others are only good at healing," Miss Bluebell said. "But I know one thing; artists make excellent art manipulators. It's just an uncommon gift, and very rare. Sometimes that's because the enchanter doesn't know anything about art, or hasn't really bothered to see if they're good at it. That's true for dozens of witches and wizards; the old ways of teaching magic - spells, potions, chanting, among other things, could have been broadened by dozens of subjects like what's taught here. Miss Pentangle has offered several scholarships to witches and wizards who didn't fit in at their schools, and they flourished here."

"Are the enchanters who can perform this art magic only able to work with just one part, like charcoal?"

Miss Bluebell had thought about the question and whatever answer she could have given before she chuckled honestly. "I don't know, Mildred," she'd said honestly. "But don't some artists prefer to work with just one medium?"

"Yeah."

"It's the same with enchanters; for some reason, some enchanters may be a 'jack of all trades' while some others are only able to perform practical enchantments that cross several fields," Miss Bluebell went on. "What about you, how are you with art?"

Mildred had puffed her cheeks out thoughtfully before she smiled. "I like painting, drawing, I've worked with clay, charcoal, several kinds of paints, including spray painting. I've also made a few sculptures. But my favourite mediums have to be painting and drawing, but I can work with any kind of art."

Miss Bluebell smiled. "Then I think you would be able to work with it, but I shouldn't worry yourself too much, Mildred. Even if you fail to do something won't mean the end of the world as we know it. Just try to have fun."

"I wish enchanting had been around at Cackles when I was there."

"I know. The problem with enchanting is its a very old art, and there's not much call for its use anymore. But by using that logic, chanting should also be struck off, but so many witches would scream protests." Miss Bluebell had become very sad. "I just don't understand the logic behind the decision to stop enchanting from being a compulsory subject. I'm just relieved the Great Wizard doesn't really care what schools teach so long as they adhere to some of the old ways."

Mildred had had some experience of the Great Wizard, and she wasn't fond of him. They hadn't met under the most pleasant of circumstances since they had both been manipulated by Agatha, but hearing what Miss Bluebell said about him just then made her relieved as well, but it also made her wonder something.

She couldn't help but ask the question. "Miss Bluebell?" When the teacher looked at her questioningly, she'd gone on. "Do you think there are other witches and wizards who could've learnt something about magic and never had a chance because their schools didn't teach the subject?"

"Yes," Miss Bluebell had replied at once, and then they never needed to speak about it because the enchanting mistress sat next to Mildred and the two had begun the lesson. The lessons were simple enough; Mildred and Miss Bluebell would sit in the enchanting classroom whenever the two could get away and Miss Bluebell would watch Mildred draw whatever came to mind.

Miss Bluebell marvelled at Mildred's skill with art, and it wasn't just pencil drawing she was good at. She even went so far as to get her hands on some different forms of paint, from oils, acrylics, watercolours, to inks, to spray paints, and to charcoals. After Mildred had finished with the drawing, she would then try to make whatever was in the picture move.

"Amazing!" The teacher would always gush whenever Mildred made something move. Before the other enchanters came to the school to see Mildred's work and help her with her progress, she had drawn a pod of whales in watercolour before she had spray painted a scene in space where the planets simply moved on their axis and a waterfall surrounded by green grass and trees. When she had made the picture move, the clear sound of the water crashing on the rocks below could be heard, and there was a distinct bird-song after Mildred had thought of birds. When it came to the inks, Mildred decided to try something the teacher hadn't even asked her to try; she splattered the paper with splashes of ink, and very carefully she leaned back and pictured something she had always been amazed of.

Miss Bluebell looked on startled as her pupil splattered the ink onto the table and just sat back in her seat, and for a second she was afraid Mildred was just getting tired of the lessons when she saw the image materialising across the paper. She saw a rolling landscape, high hills, plains, trees. But then she saw a herd of elephants, a few hyenas and some lions. Lexi almost jumped out of her skin when a male lion with lines of ink illustrating its lustrous mane turned to face her and then roared for effect.

"This is amazing!" Lexi had whispered before she laughed almost hysterically, ignoring Mildred's concerned look. "You have no idea how few enchanters I've met with this level of skill."

"How many have you met?"

"Before you, only 3," Miss Bluebell had admitted.

"Why don't you try to see if you've got the gift?" Mildred had asked, pushing some ink and paper to her.

Miss Bluebell had smiled gently and pushed it back. "I've tried," she had admitted. "I have a gift. Music."

"Music?"

"Hmm-mm." Miss Bluebell's eyes twinkled. "I can create music just by thinking about it, so if I wanted to listen to something along the lines of jazz, I can suddenly hear saxophone music, and the same with classical music, but that's all I can do."

Miss Bluebell then closed her eyes and suddenly glowing and flowing musical notes appeared around the two witches and the sound of soft classical music could be heard.

"Wow!" Miss Bluebell had nearly laughed in delight at the look of awe on her student's face. "Fun, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

Mildred and Miss Bluebell had a lot of fun experimenting with their powers before the enchanters came to the school. During one of their lessons, Mildred showed the teacher an animated storyboard. There wasn't really a story to it, with just four boxes showing the story play out, it was just a few witches taking flight on broomsticks. In the first box the three characters talked about flying, in the next they flew on their broomsticks and in the next, they had begun a race before they arrived in potions class where the potion blew up in their faces. In the same box.

The most wonderful thing Miss Bluebell felt was seeing how so much happened in each box like it was seeing the whole thing play out in real life.

"When did you draw this out?" Lexi asked.

"Yesterday, I've been playing with it since i finished," Mildred replied. "But I drew a picture of Tabby and a few other cats, and I did the make them move thing, and then I heard this."

Mildred had been removing a sketch from her portfolio which Miss Bluebell had given to her to store her drawings. Lexi took the drawing, seeing the distinctive image of Tabby and a few other cats and the young witch moved to stand beside her, and she concentrated hard on the picture. The cats in the picture soon played around and Mildred dangled her finger in front of one of them and Lexi almost laughed when the cat took a playful swipe at the finger.

Then Tabby and a few of the cats began meowing. Lexi's eyes shot open in surprise. "Mildred," she gasped, "I've never heard of any enchantress who can do this!"

Mildred was instantly shy. "I-is that a good thing?"

"Mildred, why do you constantly think any magical talent you have is something to be ashamed of?" Lexi whispered as the girl looked down. "Has this got anything to do with Cackles?"

Mildred nodded.

"What happened?"

Mildred sighed. "I don't know," she admitted; she hadn't told any of her new teachers about her time at Cackles and the emotional abuse she'd suffered because of everyone being prejudiced against her simply for coming outside their world. "When I first went to Cackles, I thought I could learn about magic, but when I got there no-one really gave me a chance to catch up and no-one told me that witches and wizards could make their magic perform a spell with just a thought. I just got so used to being patted on the head whenever things turned out right, but more often I became just as used to listen to them yell at me for getting something wrong. I often made a fool of myself because I misunderstood something or said something wrong."

"The Witches' code tells all witches and wizards to give their children hints and tips when they're young that are designed to teach them how to become independent. Even in Pentangles students are encouraged to think on their feet," Miss Bluebell said, "Miss Cackle should have broken with tradition and given you someone to one help you learn the basics. To them, it would be easy, but for you, you are still learning. There's nothing wrong with that."

"You should never be afraid or dismayed to be good at something, Mildred. Ever, and teachers should never get angry at you for not understanding something. True, some of the stuffy witches and wizards I've known over the years would've looked down on people who didn't do well at potions or spells, but that is life."

Mildred didn't look convinced.

The young witch's lack of self-esteem annoyed Miss Bluebell, and she wondered how many times the girl had achieved something that she'd considered to be brilliant only for it to be torn down. "Mildred, don't worry about those witches who seem to think you're useless," she said softly, holding up the now still images of Tabby and the other cats. "This is proof of that, and you're doing brilliantly in other subjects since you're getting tuition and improving."

"I know, but I dunno why I still feel like I'm doing something wrong," Mildred said.

Miss Bluebell wrapped the girl in her arms - she liked giving her students a warm hug and giving them a chance to seek comfort - wondering why the teachers at Cackles couldn't see what they were doing.

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With help from Miss Bluebell, Mildred worked on her art manipulation skills before the enchanters Miss Pentangle summoned to the school to see how her new gift worked. Miss Bluebell had spent many of her lessons experimenting with Mildred in finding out if there was any real limit to her new powers. The enchanting teacher had even brought in lumps of clay, and Mildred and she had spent a good hour having fun making clay sculptures. While they'd worked, Lexi had also watched how skilfully Mildred shaped the clay into a mini version of Pippa. Mildred closed her eyes and the clay changed colour. Lexi blinked in surprise at how detailed the clay sculpture of Pippa was, with the pink robe, the coiffured blond hair, the skin colour. If it wasn't for the fact the enchanting teacher was aware the small version of her friend was actually made of clay, then she would think Pippa had gotten in the way of a shrinking spell.

Lexi had almost laughed out loud how detailed the sculpture was. "How come you're making a sculpture of someone instead of an animal?" Lexi asked.

The girl shrugged sheepishly. "I got tired of animals, I thought I might try something different for a change."

Lexi shrugged herself, accepting the reply. Soon she giggling as the sculpture said, "Can I have a doughnut?"

THAT definitely sounded like Pippa, the woman's love of doughnuts was well known. Mildred grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, I couldn't resist," she said.

Lexi shook her head and waved her off. "No," she giggled, "it's okay. I don't know how Pippa would take it."

Mildred suddenly looked horrified at the prospect of the headmistress, but Lexi instantly put her at her ease. "I think she would be flattered, actually," she said.

Mildred still didn't look reassured. Once the clay sculptures were out of the way, they moved onto wood sculptures. By that point, Lexi was wondering if there was any form of art which Mildred couldn't do, but she watched as Mildred tried to experiment on the wood without really touching it.

"I just want to see if I don't have to draw them out," Mildred explained as she closed her eyes while Miss Bluebell watched the piece of wood being chipped methodically so quickly it was like watching time being sped up while the wood was being shaped. The chips of wood disappeared, leaving behind a bird.

Lexi watched in awe as the wood, like the clay, was varnished and then coloured into a genuine-looking bird. The detail was amazing, she could see nearly every feather delicately cut into the wood. Mildred held out her hand, and the bird delicately hopped into her palm before the bird flew around the room, chirping a cheery sounding song before coming to rest in Mildred's palm again.

"You know something, I wish that instead of Cackles you had come to this school from the beginning," Lexi whispered. "It's been a long time since I've encountered any witch being this good in Enchantments."

When the enchanters arrived, they were greeted by Mildred, Pippa and Miss Bluebell in the headmistress's office. By now Mildred had been thoroughly versed in the traditional greeting and she touched her palm to her head, saying in unison with her teachers, "Well met."

The three witches touched their hands to their heads in the same manner.

One of them, a middle-aged woman with her long hair in a plait, studied Mildred with an easy going smile. "You are the young enchantress?" she asked.

Mildred sent a quick look at Lexi, who nodded. "Yes, I'm Mildred Hubble."

The witch smiled kindly. "I'm Tamara Mandragora," she introduced herself. "This is Lindsay Delphinium," she introduced the witch clad in a purple cloak, who also offered a smile to Mildred, leaving a witch clad in a green cloak rimmed in black and silver, "and Belinda Asarum."

Once the greetings were out of the way Mildred and Lexi showed the enchanters and Pippa what they'd learnt about her abilities.

"So, what can you do, Mildred?" Lindsay asked curiously.

Mildred and Lexi both knew the visitors would be more interested in seeing what she could do. They brought in her artwork and even a few supplies to help her make art from scratch. She began with ink ("Don't put ink on my desk!" Pippa said when Mildred splashed some on a piece of paper before she became as amazed as everyone else by what she could do), and after seeing the splashing of ink on the paper change from a boat with a fisherman in it snoozing to a tourist taking a photo over a city, and seeing an African savannah, the two witches showed them the cat picture.

The enchanters were amazed. None of them had seen a display like this before in their lives and careers as enchantresses. Miss Pentangle was embarrassed but flattered when the clay sculpture of her was revealed, and she could honestly say it was disconcerting to have a pseudo-conversation with herself.

After seeing the wooden sculpture of the bird, it was up to Tamara Mandragora to begin the questioning. "When did you discover this ability, Mildred?"

"Only recently," the young witch replied. "I've only recently transferred to Pentangles after being offered a scholarship by Miss Pentangle. Cackles Academy, my old school, didn't offer any facilities for learning enchantments."

"Cackles?" Belinda Asarum repeated with a grimace. "One of the most respected magical schools in the country, and yet they believe their lessons in magic are good enough for all." The woman shook her head.

Mildred was instantly intrigued. "I'm sorry, but why do you say that?"

"The problem is enchanting is not a common subject anymore, and without it being taught in schools anymore, there is a greater dependency on Spells classes to help them with spell casting," Miss Bluebell explained, "but if you learn enchanting then its possible for more powerful spells to be discovered and invented."

"One of the reasons why the Magic Council in this country decided to sideline the subject is because of its complexities, but while enchanting is complex it is still a benefit. What's the most complex form of magic you know, Mildred?" Belinda asked.

Mildred's answer was immediate. "Potions," she said, making both Lexi and Pippa chuckle.

Belinda smiled. "Ah, but potions has hundreds of applications today, so does enchanting and yet many of the spells that come from it because in a way that's all enchanting is, a load of spells, is just called spells. But there are many talents, like your own, Mildred. But if we show your talent to the Magic Council and get the support of the Great Wizard, then we might be able to make it compulsory for magical schools to teach the subject to their students again."

"Enchanting was once taught at magical schools, Millie," Pippa explained, "but over the years, when new standards came out, the demand for it was lessened. Now its only taught in colleges as an elective."

"Many people believe, especially since there are signs that the Craft is in decline, that enchanting should be brought back in order to broaden the minds of the students," Tamara said, "the only problem with that is that some members of the council are not sure if that is a good idea. They believe the subject, being complex, should only be taught at colleges."

"That doesn't seem right," Mildred pointed out, "I've been in the lessons at Pentangles, and Miss Bluebell always makes sure the lessons are fun and as easy as possible."

While Lexi was presently beaming at what Mildred had said, the other enchanters had more to say. "That's only true if you bother to attend a few lessons, Mildred," Belinda said, "but the problem is enchanting has a deserved reputation for being complex in one or two ways, but it's easy if you apply yourself. Unfortunately, with witches like Mrs Hallow," Belinda made a face, "they aren't likely to budge unless they see something good."

Mildred sighed. "Do you think it would work?"

She had never spoken to the woman, but she didn't think the woman was reasonable. Then again she could always live in hope.


	13. Chapter 13 Trouble at Cackles

Disclaimer - I hope you are loving this story, but as you know I do not own the Worst Witch.

Trouble at Cackles.

Pippa Pentangle was working late in her office when she received the mirror call. She had been busy in her office looking for any magi-zoology and magical archaeological experiences for her older years which would be a treat for them; one of the problems with traditional magical schools was that school trips weren't very frequent, but Pippa had decided it would be a good idea for her students to travel to various places that were important for magical studies, like the dragon zoos in Africa, and the merpeople city in the Pacific ocean, and visits to the Caribbean to study the magical heritage there. The Magic Council had needed a lot of persuasion to let her students go on these trips, but thanks to her winning personality, Pippa was able to persuade them to give her permission to organise them. Unfortunately, with Mrs Hallow as the Head of Education, getting that permission wasn't always easy. Pippa always had to dredge up ample and solid grounds to why it was a benefit to her school and to her students.

Pippa somewhat envied her students in a roundabout way she hadn't expected when she'd founded her school because they learnt something about ancient magical practitioners that wasn't generally known to the modern magical world today, and sometimes she wished she had had a teacher in her old school who taught a subject so deftly and with great passion in her old school, but that was problem with magical schools these days. They had been teaching the same subjects for so long even the teachers had grown tired.

Pippa had been in her stride when the mirror chimed softly with the incoming call, and she'd put down her pen immediately as she tried to run the list of people who might have been calling in her mind, but she came up with nothing. She was used to getting calls from her friends but she had made it clear to them she was a headmistress at a school, and they'd understood immediately that her role in magical education was more important than chatting to people.

When she accepted the call, Pippa was surprised when the mirror coalesced to show the familiar faces of the Great Wizard and Mrs Hallow themselves. She couldn't tell where they were; it looked like they were outdoors in the night but there was light falling on their faces.

The sight of them both made the Pentangles' headmistress touch her forehead with the back of her fingers. "Well met, your Greatness," she greeted the wizard before turning to the witch in the picture, "well met, Mrs Hallow."

The two in the mirror returned the greeting before the Great Wizard got down to business. "Miss Pentangle," the wizard began wearily and Pippa noticed for the first time that the wizard was looking tired as if he had expended a lot of his power in a short amount of time, and his face looked ruddier than usual under his beard, "there's been trouble at Cackle's academy. It's best if you see it."

The mirror's view adjusted and it turned around to show the familiar castle of Cackle's Academy, but this time Pippa gasped in shock. The castle was ablaze with silver and red-gold flames licked with orange. It was more concentrated around the lower floors of the castle, but it had moved up until the flames had cut through the roof.

When the mirror's view returned to the grave and tired faces of both the Great Wizard and Mrs Hallow, Pippa was instantly asking questions. "What in the name of Merlin happened?"

The Great Wizard looked pained, shaking his head as if he couldn't believe it himself. "It looks like Magical Greek fiend-fyre," he replied, "Miss Hardbroom herself has seen demonstrations of the stuff being used in the past, and while the scale of this blaze is more powerful than any demonstration she has seen, it has all the signs of that spell."

Just hearing the name of that spell had Pippa cover her mouth in shock and disbelieving horror that someone would even think of using that spell.

"What?" she gaped in shock. Especially in a school, of all places. In non-magical history, the Byzantines had come up with a chemical weapon they used in naval battles. This weapon was more powerful than any incendiary weapon used today by non-magical people, and the formula had long since been lost.

But the non-magical people had no idea their magical counterparts had been inspired by what they'd invented, but unfortunately where the non-magical form of Greek fire's recipe had been lost and their scholars were still trying to piece together how it worked, witches and wizards who were experts in potions but far beyond the level of teachers like Selina and Hecate, knew the recipe of the Magical Greek fiend-fyre.

Pippa was good at potions, maybe not as good as Selina or Hecate, and she had seen the spell itself in operation once when she was studying at college, but she knew that if she tried to make this spell then it was likely that she would probably burn down the lab she was working on it from and if she were in a house then it would burn through the walls until the house became a burnt out ruin. If it came between using that spell and an out of control Wildfire spell, then she would do the wildfire spell. No doubt in her mind.

Magical Greek fiend-fyre was a very powerful spell. Like many spells, it was made by mixing a potion. It took days to make the potion, some of the ingredients were mixed separately and in different cauldrons in order to make it incredibly pure. The potion was only dangerous when all the smaller potions were mixed together to make one, and then the final ingredient was added. Pippa didn't know what the final ingredient was, and frankly, she didn't want to.

All she did know was when the multiple potions were mixed together and before the final ingredient was added, the witch or wizard who was making it needed to either place the cauldron into a specialised shielded chamber where it could be contained, or a shield spell which performed the same job was applied.

Some people had compared Magical Greek fiend-fyre with the Wildfire spell where the primary ingredient was chucked in in massive quantities. They had no idea. A Wildfire spell was just basically a floating ball of green fire which was, well, wild and fiery.

Magical Greek fiend-fyre was like a cross between a cloud and a whirling tornado of flames that whipped mighty bolts of fire at everything around it, and everything those bolts of fire touched, it either reduced to ash or it too caught fire. A forest and a moor of dry brush could catch fire very quickly under those conditions. The spell had been outlawed centuries ago and very few potions masters and mistresses knew how to make it properly and safely when there were so many concerns. Only experts were allowed to make it and they needed a license to make sure everyone knew they could make it without problems. It was not easy getting that license since so many things could go wrong.

For a start, improperly made fiend-fyre let out a gas could melt flesh, and too much of one ingredient would result in a massive explosion.

"It wasn't Hecate, she's not stupid enough to play games with something that dangerous, besides most of the ingredients are too hard to find and aren't allowed anywhere near schools, and it couldn't have been one of the students," Pippa said thoughtfully as she tried to work out why someone would even want to do this to Cackles. "No-one else at the school has the expertise to make anything that dangerous, even the teachers aren't that stupid. Why would anyone do this?"

"We don't know," the Great Wizard said with an angry sigh as if wishing he had gotten there sooner to deal with the perpetrator of the crime, "when I got here, the safety spells on the school were trying valiantly to hold the fire off while some of the teachers tried the same in order to get the students out safely."

"Was anyone hurt?" Pippa pounced.

"Thankfully none of the students, some of the teachers almost got caught in the vortex of the fire spell, but they were unharmed," the Great Wizard said with relief; it was the only good piece of news the Wizard had. "When I got here with some fire investigators, we were able to remove some of the worst components of the spell and now they're waiting for it to die down. It's still going. Those components would have kept the spell going for hours, maybe even days; a blaze that size, feasting on the magic of the school itself, only a dragon could have done better."

Pippa shuddered at the mention of a dragon. "Where are the teachers now, Your Greatness?"

"They're supervising the girls now," the Great Wizard replied, looking over the mirror with sympathy in his eyes at what the blonde witch believed were the students of the burnt down school, "the girls are badly shaken; its one thing to have fire drills, but this is different."

"Your Greatness, was there something you wanted from me?" Pippa asked. While she was sympathetic towards the girls of Cackles, she wanted the Wizard to get to the point.

"The girls at the school no longer have a school, Miss Pentangle," Mrs Hallow spoke for the first time since they'd exchanged greetings; Pippa had wondered why the usually glacial witch had not said a word, and Pippa, who was good at reading the body language and expressions of other people had never been good at reading Mrs Hallow. She was going to have to speak to her at some point in the future to discuss the enchanting issue, but in the meantime, she had advised Lexi and Mildred to work with the other enchantresses to develop her gift.

But this was no time.

But it was what the arrogant matriarch of the Hallow family had just said that made sense. Pentangles was the closest magical school of any considerable size to Cackles, and it had lots of space, but that space was still finite. "I can inform the teachers here about what's happened and we can prepare the school for their arrival, though things would be a bit cramped here - for them as well as for my school," Pippa replied at last without protest; she knew the Great Wizard would listen to her concerns, but Mrs Hallow wouldn't and there was no point wasting her breath. "But what about Cackles itself? The school may be immolated and the fire may still be raging, but what will happen to the building itself?"

"We don't know. I will arrange for the fire investigators on hand here to properly inspect the school to find out where the blaze began, that way we can begin inspecting the possibilities of repairing the school," the Great Wizard replied, but Pippa caught sight of the pained look on Mrs Hallow's face.

She knew why.

Mrs Hallow, the head of education on the magic council, was sometimes a bit of a cheapskate despite her family's prestige and standing in their world. Pippa could already tell the arrogant woman was totting up the potential amount of cash needed to repair the castle, and the very sight of the way she held the futures of quite a few dozen people, some of them children, made her anger grow even worse. She only hoped Mrs Hallow didn't do something to destroy those girl's hopes and dreams.

"I suppose that's the best we can hope for, Your Greatness," Pippa said, "if you could inform the teachers and students at Cackles they will be welcome to come here tomorrow morning, I'll tell my teachers and let them know about what's happened at Cackles."

The Great Wizard nodded. "Thank you, Miss Pentangle," he replied graciously before he cut the connection to inform the teachers and students at the blitzed out school of the news.

Pippa closed her eyes before she began making calls with the mirror.

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Back at Cackles, the Great Wizard called for silence from the students and the teachers. "I have just spoken to Miss Pentangle, and she has agreed to give you shelter at her school," the Wizard announced.

The girls chatted amongst themselves. Meanwhile, the first years looked at one another pointedly at the mention of Miss Pentangle and Pentangles, knowing what he was saying. Mildred. Mildred was at Pentangles.

Mildred was a long way off Miss Cackle's mind. The elderly headmistress was relieved her girls were going to be sheltered and be fed after all this. When the fire alarms had gone off, Ada had foolishly thought Hecate had prepared another drill, but the potions mistress had instantly put an end to that notion.

Of all the fire spells that could've been used, it had to be something like that! Ada hadn't seen an example of Magical Greek Fiend-fyre for decades, but she had never forgotten the sound that the flaming vortex made, it was like a howling wind, raging and dangerous as it sort to cause death and destruction.

"I am relieved to hear that, Your Greatness," Ada said to the Wizard. "Do you know when we will move in?"

"Miss Pentangle said she will be preparing her students and her staff for your arrival, so I expect that you will move in tomorrow morning," the Wizard said as soothingly as he could, but he was rather tired while Mrs Hallow was not.

Ada tried to look grateful, but she was a little peeved that she, her teachers, and the girls would be forced to spend the night out here next to what was left of her school, but there was nothing she could do. Ada knew that organising students and preparing the teachers to cope with another school which had taken serious damage would be taxing.

The Great Wizard left, but not before he conjured some tents and beds for everyone. The first years received a tent, the second years, and so on. The students were too shocked and shaken by what had happened to the school and the knowledge they could have been burnt to death in the fire to go back to sleep, so Miss Cackle and Miss Hardbroom arranged for some hot drinks to be served. The lines between teacher and student were blurred by this point, and the students found themselves speaking to the teachers and vice versa in a completely informal manner.

Ethel took a sip of her hot chocolate, wincing at the heat as it almost burnt her tongue. "I've read about Magical Greek Fiend-fyre," she commented aloud, "but I never thought I'd see it like this."

Ada looked at her sharply. "I hope if you ever see it, Ethel, it's under controlled conditions. I remember seeing it burn down an old shed during my time at college."

"I always hoped I would never see it again myself, especially after hearing how one of my cousins experimented with the spell to make something that was just as powerful, but more stable and easier to make. Oh, a grand experiment, my cousin thought," Mr Rowan-Webb sighed as he shook his head, "sadly it didn't work."

"What happened?" Miss Hardbroom asked.

"He burnt his house down during one of the experiments. He became a little overconfident, and it left him with extensive burns that he's still got; magic can do many things, it can treat terrible injuries in a flash, but that spell seems made to resist all the ordinary rules of magic," the wizard teacher replied with a sigh.

Everyone collectively shuddered at the thought of being burnt alive by the same spell after seeing what it had just done to their school, but the subject wasn't changed. Miss Hardbroom looked sadly at the girls when Enid Nightshade, giving into her curiosity asked, "Miss Hardbroom, what exactly is Magical Greek Fiend-fyre, I've never heard of it."

Miss Hardbroom looked at the normally mischievous student and hoped that by telling her she wouldn't give the girl any ideas. But she knew Enid, while a prankster, was not stupid enough to burn down a school and potentially kill her classmates. "Magical Greek Fiend-fyre is a terrible potion," she explained, "it was invented by an ancient Byzantine wizard shortly after the non-magical people invented something called Greek fire, and he decided to be competitive that he named his invention after the non-magical counterpart. Greek fire was used by the non-magical people as an incendiary weapon in naval battles. The non-magical people eventually lost the recipe on how to make their version, but unfortunately, we weren't as lucky. The wizard who invented the magical version created something much worse. The ancient non-magical version doesn't become an uncontrollable magical vortex of fire that rages unchecked, and can't be put out like ordinary fire spells. Between the day it was first invented and used to today, this particular fire spell has killed dozens of witches and wizards, some of whom like Mr Rowan-Webb's cousin was experimenting with it, and it got out of control."

"The only places you're likely to see this particular fire spell is at colleges or magical universities, or in special research labs," Miss Cackle said, "but in all cases, you need to inform the co-workers of what you're doing and get special permission. This spell is incredibly dangerous and using it can endanger lives, and you only have to look at the school itself to see what I mean."

The students did.

Miss Bat looked at Hecate curiously. "What I would like to know is why anyone would use something like that in a school?"

"I've been thinking the same thing," Hecate sighed, "this isn't your average fire spell. It is hard to make, the ingredients are hard to come by, and some are so tightly controlled that even the black market frowns on their distribution. In the past, they were easy to come by, but over time they were no longer found in apothecaries. As for why someone would want to use it….. it's hard to put out. The fire constantly grows and as it grows it becomes more uncontrollable until the magic burns itself out. But why someone would unleash it in a school…..," Hecate shook her head. "I don't know."

Ada wanted to change the subject desperately, she was in pain about what had just happened to her beloved school. "I wonder what Miss Pentangle is doing right now," she wondered, though she knew what the pink-clad witch was doing. She just wanted to change the subject.

Hecate looked up. "She is probably getting her school ready."

Felicity turned to Maud and Enid. "Have you two spoken to Mildred?"

She still felt bad; it had been her Star globe which made things go from okay to terrible for Mildred, and she still felt guilty about it. Hopefully, there was plenty of time to change that.

Maud and Enid were surprised by the sudden mention of their friend even if things between them and Mildred hadn't been the same for quite some time, but they had known Mildred's name would crop up at some point. "No, Mildred's been busy at Pentangles," Maud replied.

"Yeah, she's been a bit secretive for the last few weeks," Enid added, her eyes misting as she tried to imagine what Mildred was doing at Pentangles.

Ada suddenly became interested in the conversation and she jumped at the chance to get off the thought of the fire, she hadn't spoken to Mildred since the day she'd won Cackles the Spelling Bee and then transferred to Pentangles. But one look at the prospectus had convinced Ada it was probably for the best as much it pained her to lose someone like Mildred.

"But how is she overall?"

"She's become a bit more confident, happy," Maud replied sadly, clearly wishing Mildred had discovered the same confidence at Cackles, "she's holding herself a little differently. She's clearly happier at Pentangles than she was here," she added, looking down at her hands.

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"Magical Greek Fiend-fyre?" Selina whispered in disbelief as she stared at Pippa. "Are you serious?"

"I'm afraid so," Pippa sighed tiredly; it was getting late and she wanted to get to bed, but she and her staff had a lot to do. "The school was badly damaged by the fire when it got out of control-,"

"Out of control? Pippa, this type of fire spell is always out of control, it gets out of hand very quickly," Selina interrupted, "that's why it was banned and knowledge about it was restricted. I know friends of mine in the potions community have worked on research projects that were set up to render it more stable, but none of it worked."

Miranda frowned, the lines of her face highlighting the fact she was tired herself. "Why not?"

"Oh, I don't know," Selina whispered, "there were problems with the liquid and jellied potion bases that the fiend-fyre recipe needs; those components are used to fuel the spell and make it more powerful. The experts the Great Wizard took with him would know to remove them; this fire spell is uncommon, but many amateurs who think they know what they're doing end up making mistakes." She shook her head. "I remember the last time I saw a friend play with a few of the components," she whispered grimly, "she was trying to work out if the fiend-fyre components were only dangerous when they were mixed together in just one mixture, or if they were just as bad on their own. Oh, she got her answer; the jellied liquid was mixed with the powder and another liquid, and it created a mush that was more unstable than nitroglycerine; it blew up and it landed my friend, myself, and four others in the hospital."

Potions had never been Karen's strong point and she hated listening to stories about them. "What are we going to do with the Cackles students when they get here? There are a few rooms empty, but even if we offer some of them those rooms they will more than likely have to share," the deputy headmistress said.

Pippa was just as glad Karen moved the subject along, her mind had been full of images of people who were injured by this type of spell. Unfortunately, Karen had just voiced a concern Pippa had brought up with Mrs Hallow and the Great Wizard. "We can work out the details now," she said, "hopefully we can focus on that matter now, and deal with it tomorrow. It's too late to tell the students."

Lexi Bluebell spoke up for the first time. "Are you planning on telling the students and asking them if they wouldn't mind sharing with the Cackle's students?"

"That's the idea," Pippa said, "though some of our students will have to double up. We'll also have to be careful with the upper years; I don't think I need to tell you what happened to teenagers of both sexes get together."

The teachers were pleased Pippa had addressed that issue. Romance was encouraged at the school, but only to a point and while Pippa didn't have a problem with students having sex, she didn't want any unforeseen accidents. Pentangles had already had three pregnancies in its history, and she didn't want anymore anytime soon. Three pregnancies. That was more than enough in their minds.

Lexi looked thoughtful for a second. "What about tomorrow's lessons? Are you planning on them being on? It's just that I find it hard to believe we'll have the chance to teach anything to the students when this is going on."

Pippa hadn't thought about that, and she looked at Karen and the others for inspiration. "We'll give the students a break tomorrow," she said at last. "That will give them the chance to let us know who will be sharing with them."

"What about us, the teachers?"

"I was thinking that some of you will come with me to Cackles tomorrow to help me bring the students back, while others will be here to administrate and supervise the students, and also arrange for beds to be installed in the bedrooms for the guests," Pippa sighed, wondering if she would ever think about something different. "How do you guys feel about sharing?"

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The moment the Pentangles' students filed into the dining hall for breakfast, they knew something was up and they were wondering what was going on, and speculation was rampant. Miss Pentangle had already called for them over the intercom of the school to tell them there was an important announcement to be made. When they got there they saw Miss Pentangle was standing by the podium with the teachers behind her looking grave and concerned. Some of them even looked exhausted. But Miss Pentangle was dressed in a long pink travelling cloak, her pointed witch's hat already on her head with her broomstick nearby.

"May I have your attention, please? Last night I received a call from the Great Wizard himself," Miss Pentangle said without any kind of preamble and that concerned the students; that was not like her because usually, their headmistress would make a joke or say something offhanded to put everyone at ease. Clearly whatever the Wizard had said took precedence.

"Last night, someone used Magic Greek Fiend-fyre at Cackles Academy. For those of you who don't know what this potion is, its a powerful fire spell that resists the usual means to put out magical fires. The only two ways of dealing with it is removing some of the more dangerous magical components of the spell, which will take away most of its power, and it will go out on its own. The second is to let the magic the fire consumes to fuel it to burn it out on its own, but that could take too much time. Too many lives could be lost, and too much damage to property would take place."

"I will come to the point. The Cackles students are coming here. The school has been badly damaged and I have no idea if the fire has died down yet, but they have no where else to go, so they are coming here. Myself and some of the teachers were awake last night preparing the school for their arrival, and I will be going with some of my faculty to help me bring the Cackles students and staff here. The rest of the teachers left here will speak to you about rooming arrangements," Miss Pentangle closed her eyes in irritation when some of the students protested. She let the protests go on for a moment because she magically enhanced her voice, "I know, none of you really want to share your rooms. But it is going to happen. Some of you will have to room with the Cackle's students, others will be rooming with your friends here at Pentangles, but please try to co-operate with us. Myself and the teachers will also be bunking with each other or with the Cackles students."

Pippa took a deep breath. "I know some of you," her eyes flicked over to Mildred Hubble, "might have problems with the Cackles' students, but please try to give us some help. Classes have been canceled today for now, but they will resume tomorrow when we've worked with the Cackles' staff to integrate their students into our tutor groups, so they can share our lessons; it's not practical for them to have separate lessons, so they will be in our classrooms and learning what you do. Try to give them support and try to be nice to them, because I will tell you one thing; if there is any trouble from one of you and from one of them, there will be serious trouble. I will be leaving you in the good hands of Miss Miller."

Pippa nodded to Miss Miller and she left the room, half of the faculty following after her. Miss Miller waited until they were gone before she spoke to the students herself.

"Outside the hall are tables, one of them for Cackles, the other for Pentangles. Those who sign the Cackle's list will have a Cackle's student living with them, those who sign the Pentangle's list will have one of your classmates living with you. There is a third list for volunteers willing to give their rooms up for some Cackle's students. Space is going to be very hard to come by, and if you want to you can even make it clear on the list you're willing to have more than one person in your room," Karen said clearly. "But let me tell you something, myself and several of the teachers will be making sure that no boy will be staying with one girl; we're not adverse to dating in this school, but we do draw the line when it comes to pregnancy."

After Miss Miller's little speech, Mildred filed out with the other students to the three tables. Two of them were marked with the Cackle's and Pentangle's crests, the third wasn't. Mildred studied that table first and quickly walked off when she realised that table was for the Pentangle's students willing to give up their rooms for the Cackle's students.

Mildred avoided the table with the Pentangle's crest - she didn't want to share her room with another student, or be moved out of her room, so she headed for the third and final table. She was glad that the Pentangle's teachers were being more democratic about this mess; she knew if the tables had been reversed and it was Pentangles or some other school suffering from the same thing, the Cackles students wouldn't get to decide what happened and who they lived with.

Mildred looked at the growing list. It was amazing how many people were choosing to room with Cackle's students, not that she could blame them in the least. They didn't want to be forced out of their rooms anymore than Mildred did, and even those that were willing to room with other Pentangle's students didn't want to give up their rooms.

When Mildred came to sign her name, she thought for a second before she added next to her name "I would like to bunk with Maud Spellbody, Enid Nightshade, and Ethel Hallow."

Satisfied, Mildred left.

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Pippa Pentangle remembered Cackles as a castle with pristine walls, well preserved thanks to its magic provided by its Founding Stone, but looking at the school now surprised her. The castle walls, the turrets and the roof were badly gutted, blackened by the fire. The roof looked like the landing of a crow could collapse it all in.

Looking at this mess upset Pippa, but that was nothing compared to what she saw of the students and the teachers. All of them were now dressed in their Cackle's uniforms, though Pippa had no idea if the students had managed to save those uniforms during the fire or if they'd recovered them afterwards.

Gracefully landing with her other teachers when she saw the distinctive forms of Hecate and Ada, Pippa greeted them. "Well met, Miss Cackle," she said with a slow but sad smile, "Well met, Hecate," she added neutrally knowing this wasn't the time to be difficult with her former friend.

The two teachers exchanged their own greetings and Pippa added, "I'm sorry I'm here again under these circumstances."

"So are we," Miss Cackle sighed and while Pippa had her own problems with the woman, especially when a certain dark-haired girl sprang to mind, she didn't like seeing the clear pain in Miss Cackle's eyes as she regarded her school, or what remained of it.

Pippa followed her gaze and looked at the gutted and burnt out wreck of Cackle's Academy. "Have you learnt anything more about what happened besides what we already know?"

"No, the investigators have found evidence that there is still some fire burning in the lower levels of the school, that seems to be where it started," Miss Cackle replied, her voice shaking as if she had been sobbing all night over the loss of her school, and judging by how red her eyes were she probably had been crying. Pippa couldn't blame her. She would have died if something like this happened to her own school.

"So that means you still have no idea why someone would do this," Pippa shook her head while she wondered why anyone would use that particular spell in a school.

"Clearly not." The terrible night coupled with the fact she would have to share a school with her old friend had done nothing to improve Hecate Hardbroom's mood.

Unfortunately, the dark potions mistress' attitude grated on Ada's mood. "Hecate," she warned before she looked at Pippa, and her voice became more softer. "Miss Pentangle-," she began.

"Pippa, please," Pippa interrupted as softly and as inoffensively as she could. "We're going to be working together, and its a good idea if we're both comfortable with using our first names, yes?"

"Very well, Pippa," Ada said in relief, clearly happy about the lack of formality. "I think I speak for all of us when I say we're grateful your putting us up."

Pippa smiled, though a part of her wondered if it was going to be a permanent arrangement. "I like to think you and others would do the same if something bad happened to my own school. Shall we fly on? I think it would be a good idea to transport over to Pentangles, do you agree?"

Ada and Hecate nodded at once. "Yes," Ada replied, knowing that it would take too long to fly between the two schools and that the only reason Pippa had flown here with her own teachers was to give them the general feel of the distance and the location of the gutted school. "That would be best."

Pippa smiled and together, the three teachers headed for the Cackle's students. "We're going to transport you to Pentangles," she announced, "when you get there, please feel free to have a look around the school. Because of what's happened, my students are not presently studying today, so you'll have a chance to meet them and get to know them properly, unless you already do."

The Cackle's students and teachers could detect the subtle alluding to Mildred Hubble, but they said nothing about it, though Pippa, Ada, and Hecate all caught the looks on Ethel Hallow's face, and Enid and Maud exchanging a quick glance.

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Next chapter - Guests at Pentangles.

How will Ethel react when she finds out Mildred has volunteered to share her room with her?


	14. Chapter 14 Guests at Pentangles

I hope you continue to enjoy my stories - I've put up a new Worst Witch story.

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Guests at Pentangles.

Karen Miller had never met Hecate Hardbroom before today, in fact she had been uncertain if she had even wanted to after catching bits and pieces off what she and her colleagues had heard from Mildred Hubble over the past couple of months she had been at Pentangles, but when she did meet her opposite number from the now-gutted Cackles Academy, Karen could see that some of her instincts about the woman were spot on. The woman reminded her vividly of some of the teachers at her old school, those who had instantly dismissed her clear ability to wield magic simply because of the circumstances of her birth. It wasn't Karen's fault she had been called a 'non-witch' and couldn't trace magic back through her family line five or six generations.

Karen wasn't looking forwards to Miss Hardbroom asking her about her family history - she had caught the look of confusion in the other woman's eyes when Pippa had introduced her when the first contingent from Cackles arrived at the school before leaving to go back for the next group and knew it was because of her name.

An older witch with white hair and glasses had told Miss Hardbroom to stay with the students while she did her own job as headmistress and brought the other girls to Pentangles. So that was Miss Cackle, but Karen had been barely acknowledged by the older witch, but there would be time for introductions later.

Presently Karen was escorting Miss Hardbroom and some of the girls through the school to show them around to help them find their way around the school. "This is the cinema," Karen showed them inside the dimly lit room with couches and chairs surrounded by rich dark red velvet walls and dominated by an immense mirror. "This is one of the recreational choices offered to Pentangles students. Here, they can either watch non-magical films or anything else of their choice."

The Cackles students chatted among themselves about the possibilities. Some of them were aware of what the non-magical world offered, but because of the separation between the two worlds that wasn't possible and besides unlike the non-magical world, witches and wizards used mirrors to showcase their entertainment, but they had never made something like films or music videos. Enid Nightshade knew about music videos from listening to Mildred talking about them when the two had still been friends before the Star globe messed everything up, and she knew if her parents ever discovered the concept they would fight tooth and claw to take full advantage of it.

Unfortunately, not all of the Cackles contingent was happy about the thought of seeing a taste of the non-magical world, but Miss Miller moved on and continued showing them around the school. The next place she showed them was the Enchanting classroom. Karen peered through the window set into the door and saw Lexi was busy puttering around, clearly trying to find something to do now the administration stage of getting the Cackles students sorted into the school. Karen wondered why she, Miranda and Selina were the ones being lumbered with the Cackles students and why Lexi was working in her classroom, but she knocked on the door. Lexi looked up and waved her hand enthusiastically when she saw who was at the window.

Karen chuckled and walked inside, but she became worried when Lexi's happy smile faded a little bit when she saw the entourage and the black-clad teacher behind her. But she looked at the girls with a warm smile, completely ignoring Miss Hardbroom.

"Well met, girls," Lexi greeted the Cackles students, giving the ritualistic greeting of the magical community, touching her forehead and bowing slightly with the back of her fingers.

"Well met," the girls chorused, but Lexi completely ignored Miss Hardbroom, much to the potions mistress' confusion and annoyance. "My name is Miss Bluebell. I am the enchanting teacher at Pentangles and I will have you in my classes. Enchanting is one of the oldest magical arts, and you are in for a treat. You will be learning alongside my other students how to use enchanting for your spell work."

Lexi smiled when one of the girls, a brunette, smiled brightly. "Oh, I really wanted to learn about enchanting, and I wanted to come to Pentangles and learn under Miss Pentangle, but my mother wouldn't let me!"

Lexi's mouth quirked at the girl's enthusiasm. It was becoming increasingly hard to find students of either gender who was interested in her subject, but the good thing about Pentangles was it exposed all students to the benefits whether they wanted it or not. "Oh, and why is that?" she asked curiously.

The girl's smile became slightly sad and more than a little wistful. "Because my mother wouldn't let me come to a school that's coed."

Ah, a traditionalist family view. Lexi herself had been exposed to that mindset over the years, and it never failed to amaze her. There were advantages and disadvantages to that - one advantage was keeping hold of magical tradition and letting it endure to teach future generations of how witches and wizards were taught over the centuries to make sure the uniqueness was never allowed to die. The obvious disadvantage was with that kind of mindset change was seen as something to be avoided at all costs and never allowed to flourish.

Lexi favoured the girl with a warm if somewhat dreamy smile (she caught sight of the emotionless look in Miss Hardbroom's eyes, but Lexi didn't plan on letting the woman get to her), and she said kindly. "Well, I hope my lessons meet your expectations, Miss-?"

"Felicity Foxglove," Felicity smiled back at Miss Bluebell.

But even Miss Hardbroom was surprised by the smile fading from Lex's face and replaced with an expression of total professionalism as if the woman's inner teacher had asserted full control of the kind-hearted woman's attitude. Karen frowned when Lexi said in a neutral tone but she knew the other woman well enough to see when Lexi was annoyed, no, not annoyed. Angry. "Yes, well I hope you like it at Pentangles, Felicity," Lexi said, getting the name out of her mouth as if she wanted to say something foul to the girl but had held back the urge because it was not in her nature to be cruel to anyone who walked into her classroom, who was now looking back at her with an expression of worry, clearly wondering what she had done to elicit this reaction.

Lexi looked around at the other students, who had also noticed the way she had just spoken to Felicity and wondered what the girl had done to deserve that. "You can look around my classroom if you wish, but please don't touch anything - everything out is going to be used by some of you tomorrow, and you will be working with my other students. Excuse me."

Karen frowned and walked after her while the Cackle's girls walked around the room. All of them were looking at the items on each of the worktops. There were small plants that had just sprouted through the soil, and there were pieces of old, rotten wood and rusty pieces of metal. Miss Hardbroom stood back and listened to some of the chatter going on.

"Why was Miss Bluebell so cold to you, Felicity?" Ethel whispered to Felicity.

"I don't know. She seemed nice but when she heard my name, she recognised it," Felicity whispered back.

"I wonder why she would do that," Enid said, shaking her head. "Could your family-?"

Felicity knew what Enid was getting at, they all did, but she shook her head. "No, I don't think so. Hopefully things will be okay when we have her tomorrow. I can't wait to learn about enchanting."

Ethel shook her head. "Enchanting. Enchanting went out of fashion years ago, this class will be pointless."

Miss Hardbroom was in no mood to contradict Ethel; while she shared some of the blond's opinions on the subject, she wasn't going to shove it down the Pentangle's staff's throats. Speaking of which she wanted to speak to Miss Bluebell and find out for herself why the woman blatantly ignored her and insulted her by not greeting her, and why her mood had changed the moment she heard Felicity's name.

She walked over to Miss Miller and Miss Bluebell (she would find out more about the Pentangle's deputy headmistress - there was something off about that name - but that could come later), and she was about to announce her presence when she heard them talk.

"-she's the girl, Karen," Miss Bluebell said quietly, "she's the one who's responsible for Mildred's time in Cackles becoming a nightmare."

"That girl is the one who owned the Star globe?"

"Yeah."

As Hecate eavesdropped on the private conversation, she quickly realised there was a lot of anger in this woman. And it all revolved around Mildred Hubble.

But she was truly surprised as the conversation went on.

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A few minutes before….

Karen followed her friend, keeping an eye on the Cackle's students in case they did something to the workstations, which wouldn't win them any points from Lexi, who loved her classroom and hated it whenever someone or something trashed them - she had once given Beatrice Black a three-week detention when the arrogant girl had damaged the work of some of her peers. Something was off with Lexi at the moment. Karen had known Lexi for a long time, and they had become firm friends - out of all the teachers whom Karen had met in the past, Lexi didn't care about someone's heritage or whether they were involved with the magic council. All she wanted were students who were willing to learn and to put the effort into enjoying her classes.

But she had never seen Lexi like this before, but she had something else on her mind. Moving close to her so then none of the Cackle's students would overhear them speak - the last thing she and Pippa needed at the moment was for one of the students to eavesdrop on them and find out Lexi was being deliberately prejudiced. Pippa wanted a smooth transition welcoming the students into her school, she didn't need or want any trouble.

"Lexi, why are you in here, really?" Karen asked. "Why aren't you helping the others?"

Lexi smiled, knowing what Karen was asking. "I am not hiding in here, really. I did spend a couple of hours helping the older years move into their friends' rooms. I've helped transport their beds from one room to another. But when the Cackles students arrived, I decided to come to my classroom to prepare for tomorrow's lessons."

Karen nodded, thankful her friend had done something to help Pentangles get ready for the rush. Seriously the deputy headmistress was not looking forwards to the future. Pentangles had dozens of rivalries with dozens of schools from Cackles to Miss Amulet's Academy. It was always the same; Pentangles students would boast about what they were good at, and then the other school would boast about the things they were good at, and it would spiral down into fights.

"How are you going to teach them, enchanting isn't taught at Cackles?" Karen asked, knowing she was telling her friend something that she knew already.

"I'll have to start them on the basics," Lexi replied, "and that means I'll need to do the same to my students; they won't think its fair, but until the Cackle's students catch up there's not a lot I can do. I can't just teach them the same level as my Pentangles' students, Enchanting is too complex for that. The last thing I want to do is to teach two different lessons at the same time. I'd be driven insane if that happened."

Karen accepted her friend's answer and she wondered if the other teachers who taught subjects which weren't taught at Cackle's Academy would have to do the same thing. Pentangles had enchanting, runes, magical zoology, techno-magic, and they had to be taught from scratch.

"How do you think it will go?" Karen asked curiously; Lexi and the others had managed to teach latecomers before now, but this was different, they had never had to teach classes where students from another school would be introduced into their lessons.

Lexi shrugged. "Ask me that question in the next couple of days, I'll have an answer for you."

Karen chuckled along with Lexi, it was good to see her friend's spirits return, but Karen knew she would need to ask this question.

"Lexi, why did you react the way you did when that girl Felicity introduced herself?"

The enchanting teacher sighed. She felt ashamed of the way she had reacted, and yet she hadn't been able to resist. "I didn't want to, believe me," Lexi whispered, "and yet I couldn't help myself because she's the girl, Karen, she's the one who's responsible for Mildred's time in Cackle's becoming a nightmare."

Karen looked into Lexi's expressive eyes, suddenly understanding. "That girl is the one who owned the Star globe?"

"Yeah," Lexi whispered. "Don't get me wrong; I'm happy that Mildred is here. I love teaching her about enchanting, and contrary to what Hardbroom and several others said about her being useless at magic simply because she'd not from a magical family," there was pure disgust in Lexi's voice that would tell even the most oblivious person that the enchanting teacher didn't think much about the excuse that the only reason Mildred had been put down so often was because she didn't have a warlock in her family, "she's incredibly gifted; you know that, you've seen what she can do with enchanting, and yet because of their attitudes, Mildred's confidence was practically shattered."

"I know," Karen replied. "I'm just glad that the work we've done with her has helped, but I'm just worried that with people like Hecate Hardbroom in the same school again, they will destroy all our hard work. I won't let it happen, Lexi, you can be sure of that."

"Neither will I," Lexi's voice was an icy promise that spoke volumes about what would happen if someone pushed her on this matter. "I don't care what they think about Mildred, but I had to encourage the girl to be proud of her accomplishments in my class! She should have bene pleased regardless, but no, that's not good enough for Miss Hecate-I'm too good to please - Hardbroom!"

Karen was getting seriously worried about her friend's attitude, and she could guess that in the future Lexi would clash with Hardbroom. If they did then they should do it where none of the students from either school noticed their argument or fight. The last thing Pentangles needed was a fight between one of their own teachers and one of the Cackle's teachers. Pippa didn't want any fighting but she knew there would be.

But Lexi wasn't finished. "Did you know Mildred was bright and happy about going to Cackles, hoping to learn how to make potions? Did you know that that she had two arrogant teachers who brought her down each and every single lessons, dismissing her simply because she is from outside our cosy little world?" Karen blinked in surprise at the anger radiating off Lexi, as well as the derision in her voice, but then she sneered in a manner that disturbed Karen because Lexi never sneered. "Oh boo-hoo, who cares if Mildred isn't from a magical family? Get a grip! How pathetic can you get? The girl is my protege, Karen. She is perhaps one of my best students, I won't have someone else bully and demean her."

Karen was unsurprised by the declaration since she knew, well everyone knew, that Lexi adored Mildred, but seeing Lexi angry was startling. The enchanting teacher was one of the most mild-mannered people Karen knew, and she rarely got annoyed, but if you got her riled enough, she began leaking magic in her anger. It was a terrifying sight when she was really angry. "I know how you feel," she said at last, "but try to treat the Cackle's students neutrally. We don't need any problems."

Lexi sighed, and she seemed to lose all of her anger. "I know, and I will try, but I'm telling you Karen - if any of those girls cause problems for me, or for Mildred, there will be trouble. Mildred has come a long way in the last couple of months, I'm just afraid that the presence of her old schoolmates and her old teachers will bring it all crashing down."

Karen sighed herself. "We will try to make sure it doesn't happen," she promised, making a mental note to speak to the other Pentangles teachers to make sure the Cackle's students didn't cause problems for Mildred and their other students, "I think its time we left."

Lexi nodded and she watched as the Cackle's students left her classroom, but she noticed Miss Hardbroom look back at her with an expression she didn't really want to guess at, so she turned her back and returned to what she was doing before.

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Miss Cackle and Miss Pentangle were both working in the headmistress' office. The two teachers were making plans for the transition between the two schools. Ada had never really spent much time with Pippa Pentangle, but now it was clear that despite the other woman's reputation for being stylish she was incredibly intelligent. She and her staff had already gone over the basic plans for the transition. It was straight forwards enough - some of the Pentangle students would share with their counterparts from Cackles to make sure there was enough room in the school, and some of the teachers would have to do the same.

When it came to the girls, both schools would have to share lessons while the teachers from both schools would share the responsibility of teaching. Ada had already guessed this was the direction things would be going, but it was nice for Pippa to ask her for advice here and there.

Finally, Pippa leaned back in her chair. "I think all we need to do now is to speak to our teachers," she said, "but for now I think it's a good time to get to know one another."

Ada wasn't sure where Pippa planned to go with this, but she decided there was no harm in getting to know her. "Alright," Ada replied, and the two headmistresses stood up and walked over to the small suite area where Pippa liked to entertain visitors in a less formal manner. After offering Ada some tea and biscuits, the two witches began to chat.

At first, the conversation was stilted - Ada Cackle and Pippa Pentangle both came from different backgrounds and had different philosophies, and while they shared the same desire to pass on magical knowledge and ensure magic was taught correctly, they both had differences there too. Ada's family had been teaching witches in much the same manner for generations, the traditional way, whereas Pippa was one of those witches who believed they should be taught the modern way, using a mixture of old magic and new magic, mostly new magic, though there were older subjects taught at the school, in order to promote change.

Ada began the conversation, believing rightly that the best way to create and promote a bond was to learn more about Pippa Pentangle's motivations. "What made you decide to become a teacher?"

Pippa smiled. "In my prospectus it says I wanted to learn enchanting at my first school, but the subject wasn't on offer. I didn't learn enchanting until I went to college, but by then the idea of learning it had been eroded by time. That was the first reason; I was upset such an old and valued magical subject had been…pushed aside by other witches and wizards in favour of modern magics. The second reason was when I met someone from a non-witch family."

Ada looked at her in surprise. She hadn't expected this. "There was someone from a non-witch family? I thought Mildred was the only one-," she whispered thoughtfully, trying to process what she'd just learnt. She had spent a considerable amount of time trying to prepare herself and her school before someone burnt it to the ground trying to work out how she could find girls from the same background as Mildred with Hecate, though she knew her potions mistress had reservations about the idea.

She did as well, but she wanted to try to make it up for Mildred to make Cackles more open-minded towards girls from non-witch families. She owed it to the girl after the misery heaped upon her shoulders.

Pippa shook her head. "No. The phenomenon is really rare, but it is growing. I don't know if its because the children have had a magical ancestor and the potential has jumped a few generations, or if they're the first in their families to even have magic, so don't ask. But years ago…..," Pippa's face became wistful. "I was 16. She was brilliant. We got up to all kinds of trouble, but I never helped her learn magic," Pippa looked down and Ada was surprised to see that the other woman was on the verge of crying, "everyone thought she was terrible at potions, spells and flying, and while I did help her a little bit, it wasn't enough; she managed to hold on for another year before she became fed up and just left. I tried sending her a mirror call, but she wasn't interested. She was disappointed by her experiences, and she just wanted to get her life back on track. I haven't spoken to her since."

Pippa was silent for a second before she looked up into Miss Cackle's face. "After that…. I decided to become a teacher," she said in a manner that suggested there was more to the story than what she was saying, but it was clear she didn't want to speak about it. "I began travelling the world to learn all I could about the different forms of magic out there before I founded Pentangles."

"I've looked at your prospectus - techno-magic? Enchanting? Ancient Runes? Magical Zoology? What made you decide to choose those subjects to teach at your school?" Ada asked.

Pippa had wondered if this question would crop up during their conversation. "I wanted to broaden the minds of my students," she replied, "and whether traditionalists like it or not, techno-magic is becoming more and more common in other parts of the world. Inevitably it will come here. I wanted Pentangles to be one of the first schools to teach it. The subject is new and there's still a lot of work going into it to learn its limitations. As for the other subjects, I want my students to already have the knowledge in case they gain an interest and take the subject on offer in college. Magical Archaeology is one of them. I want my students to be sought after for their knowledge. The fact I teach boys as well as girls means I'm not just teaching one gender. Why when I can teach both and make sure all my graduates want to do well in their lives?"

Ada could understand Pippa's desire for her students to be sought after, she herself wished the same of her students. But Pippa…. she could hear the raw passion in the younger woman's voice, see it burning in her eyes.

"This friend you had when you were 16, is she the reason why you offered Mildred Hubble that scholarship?" Ada asked cautiously in case Miss Pentangle took it the wrong way. Ada remembered how annoyed Pippa had been the last time.

Fortunately, Pippa was in a better mood now than then. "More or less," she admitted, "I wanted to make it up to my friend in her honour. But as I travelled the world, learning how to teach a school, I came across one or two students from non-magical families; some of the schools were awful to them, but many of them persevered and did the best they could, but in too many cases that wasn't enough for their teachers or their peers. They and my old friend were the inspiration behind taking on non-magical students. It's worked - I've taught one generation already with the second one in my school right about now, and they've gotten married, gone on to have amazing careers or opening up new businesses, and sent their children to Pentangles."

Ada was intrigued by Pippa's vision but she could see a flaw in her plans. "What about the magic council, they must know about this?"

"Oh they know alright, but there's not an awful lot they can do about it, and Mrs Hallow has enough on her plate already without making things awkward for me."

Ada had clashed with Mrs Hallow before and wondered if the younger headmistress had done so as well, it wouldn't surprise her since Ursula Hallow seemed to create feuds like nobody's business. "Does the Great Wizard know?" she asked.

"Of course. I told him about what I'd discovered on my travels, and I presented to him a case he could not ignore. But truthfully the Great Wizard doesn't really care about who learns magic as long as they aren't a danger. When he went to Cackles, he was only annoyed because a traditionalist school had broken with tradition, and with accusations of how dangerous Mildred was."

Ada knew she was referring to the time where Agatha tried to force her out as headmistress again. Agatha had used a letter written by someone else concerning Mildred and the Great Wizard had come to investigate. Hecate had described the meeting in detail and how Mildred had been put on the cauldron while the Great Wizard was surprised and annoyed the girl was at Cackles. Hearing this put things into perspective.

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"This is the magical archaeology classroom," Karen said as she ushered the girls into the classroom. The girls began to chatter at the sheer size of the room, and even Miss Hardbroom was impressed though she was curious about the point of this classroom.

Hecate, still reeling from Miss Bluebell's statement Mildred Hubble of all people was her protege, had been silent as she had considered the implications. Enchanting was one of the oldest forms of magic there were, and while she shared many of Ethel's beliefs about the subject, probably repeated by her own mother's statements about enchanting, Hecate knew that if Miss Bluebell was serious then it meant Mildred was more of a witch than she had imagined.

Proteges were a step up from apprenticeships in the witching world.

The magical archaeology room was basically a cross between a small lecture hall and a dig site that was like an indoor sandpit. There was a large wide open space where there was a big patch of dirt. The Cackles contingent saw three blackboards mounted on the wall, currently showing a magical dig site that had been going on in Peru in the 1840s, with diagrams and a crude map of a tomb.

Karen looked around the classroom. She had never really been able to figure out why the teachers that ran this course wanted the classroom laid out like it was here. "As you can see, the room is both a lecture theatre and a dig site. Students in the upper storey get to listen and observe how magical archaeologists learn their craft, and the other half of the class learn how to dig for magical artefacts."

Karen walked gently around the dig site and threw open a pair of double doors. The students clustered around her and even Hecate was interested in what was inside. "Magical archaeology is sometimes a dirty subject, so you will be asked to wear a smock and trousers over your uniforms."

Ethel Hallow hissed to Felicity and Drusilla. "There's no way I'm going to do this, this isn't magic."

Unfortunately, Karen overheard her. "Excuse me. I'm no expert, but I know if Mr and Mrs Bones, who both teach this subject, heard your statement, you would be on the receiving end of a lecture where you'd learn this course is magical." Ethel went completely silent, but Karen was not finished. Hecate stood there wondering what the other deputy headmistress was about to say, and she soon found out. Walking softly towards Ethel, Karen spoke as she walked, "Magical archaeologists go all over the Earth to piece together the mysteries of the magical civilisations. Magic has evolved over the centuries, it's been used by thousands of different people with different philosophies. Who are we to ignore them?"

Karen was quoting a famous argument by another magical archaeologist that she had heard years ago, but what she said next was something that she herself had just figured out. "Pentangles offers a wide range of subjects," she said, "some of them may not be your idea of magic, but let me tell you that you are now in our school. You will sit in our lessons, you will learn what we teach you. If we tell you to get down on your knees and dig, you will get down on your knees and dig. If we tell you to work in the Herbology gardens, then you will work in the Herbology gardens, and you will do it in an orderly mature manner, do you understand?"

Ethel was cowed by the argument and she nodded. "Yes," she whispered.

But Karen wasn't having this. "Yes, what?"

Ethel had to swallow her pride. "Yes, Miss Miller."

Karen had recognised Ethel Hallow for what she was the moment she saw the girl - one of those girls from a magical family with plenty of influence going back centuries with a clear chip on her shoulder, making the Pentangle's deputy headmistress wonder if this girl was yet another example of the rules of the Witches' code where siblings didn't inherit what the family had to offer. It had taken a long time for Karen to learn that magical families rarely had more than one child, which helped to mitigate the potential misery and jealousy the younger sibling would feel towards the elder child, but she remembered those families who had more than one kid. But even then they fell into the trap the code left out - they would treat the eldest child like they mattered, and only give a shadow of attention to the younger one.

Karen sighed. "Listen, I know this is hard for you, all of you," she said, looking from one girl to another. "Your school was burnt down, you were forced to come to a different school with the same subjects, but a few subjects that are totally different from whatever you expected magic to be. Pentangles offers a lot more than normal magical schools. We offer magical subjects which are simply not taught anymore, and have been almost forgotten. We offer techno-magic, which allows magic to be combined with non-magical technology. Please do not sneer at our subjects until you've at least tried them. Alright, lets go. I think its time for you to be shown one more classroom before I show you to where you'll be staying."

It was a subdued group of students that were led into another classroom that was different from any other they had encountered. Unlike the other classrooms, there were no desks and chairs laid out. All there was were a number of small black cushions on the floor. The room was completely black with a highly polished and varnished wooden floor with an enormous dark blue mat laid out on top.

A tall man wearing a white smock and trousers with a long dark robe draped over his shoulders appeared from another door. "Hello, Karen," he said, greeting his fellow teacher. "These are the Cackle's students?"

The Cackles students shivered as the wizard's gaze washed over them, and even Miss Hardbroom, to their astonishment, seemed taken aback by his gaze. He wasn't a particularly tall man, but he was stocky and his compact, muscular frame gave everyone the impression his body was full of tremendous power.

The most defining thing about the wizard was his head and his face. His skin was lightly tanned to a light brown like he had spent a great deal of his time outdoors, but not enough to really be tanned by the sun. His face was still weatherbeaten but it was impossible to tell if he was young, old or middle-aged. The wizard's head was completely bald. There wasn't a single hair on his face apart from his eyebrows and eyelashes, and both were dark.

It was the wizard's face that made him intimidating to all of them, including Miss Hardbroom who wasn't usually and easily intimidated. His face was hard, and his steel-blue eyes were like slits in his face, giving him a rather stern visage. His nose was quite large, and mixed with the way his eyes were narrowed, it gave the impression that no matter what he would never be pleased.

"Well-met, students of Cackles Academy," he said in a clipped voice before he repeated the same greeting with Miss Hardbroom.

"Well-met," the potions mistress said, "and you are-?"

"Here I am known as Sensei," the wizard said in a manner that said he wouldn't tolerate any other name. "The Knowledgeable one. I teach Magical duelling and magical defence. I also teach a variety of non-magical defence techniques to my students to ensure that they know how to defend themselves. I do not tolerate students that mess around, do not think I will not punish you if you do."

Hiding her surprise that the sensei was incredibly blunt enough to warn her students about what he wouldn't allow, Hecate was surprised by the fact Pentangles even offered this particular subject to its students. She could tell just by looking at the 'sensei' the Pentangles students probably learnt about the class to a high standard, and she had the impression he would punish anyone if they played around in his lessons.

"Excuse me," Maud Spellbody interrupted softly, "but why is this class offered? I've heard that magical duelling is touched upon in Spells-."

"That is the sub-form of defence," the Sensei interrupted sharply and quickly as if the question had offended him but he wanted to answer it anyway, "few schools teach magical defence and duelling in just one class in this country, but after an incident that occurred to a Pentangles student when the school was in its first seven years, Miss Pentangle ensured this class's creation to prevent anything else happening to other students."

Hecate wondered what kind of incident would warrant such a change in a schools' curriculum, but she planned to ask someone later instead of knowing about it now.

Unfortunately, Enid Nightshade had other ideas. "What happened?"

The sensei and Miss Miller looked at each other before Karen nodded her head. "A student was raped," she said simply, "she was snatched off the streets and brutally molested before she managed to get away, but the incident shocked her and her family. She discovered she was pregnant, but her family disowned her. We tried to help her, but she committed suicide during the summer term. She wrote a letter telling Miss Pentangle that Pentangles should begin teaching magical defence. We set up this class and began teaching the lessons with the sensei's help."

The Cackles students were stunned by the story and how brutally a student was raped and decided to end her life, and some of them wondered what had truly driven her over the edge.

"I think its time I showed you where you will be staying if you will please follow me…..," Karen's voice trailed off as she tried not to be drawn back to those horrifying memories.

The Cackles contingent followed her away from the sensei's defence classroom and followed after the Deputy Headmistress of Pentangles. Hecate didn't know what to say, part of her was embarrassed for what Enid had unintentionally dredged up, but she wasn't sure what she could say to Karen.

Finally, the Pentangle's deputy head arrived at a door and held out a hand. A clipboard appeared in her hand. "Ethel Hallow, Maud Spellbody, and Enid Nightshade," she called out, "this is the room you're going to be living in."

Hecate closed her eyes, knowing this was not going to be good. Ever since Mildred had left Cackles, she had noticed Enid, Maud and Ethel's fights get worse - she wasn't sure why. All she knew was in the same room together, it was possible the three girls might kill each other.

The three girls protested at once, but Miss Miller shut them up pretty quickly. "Listen, there's a limited amount of space at this school," she said quietly, not doing anything to hide her annoyance from the Cackle's students and teacher. "So you're going to have to accept the fact you will be sharing with the students already here. A few will have to share one room with another Pentangles, if you can't handle that then it's just too bad."

Karen knocked on the door. "Besides, the girl asked to bunk with you three specifically."

"Who are we going to be rooming with?" Maud asked curiously.

Miss Hardbroom thought that was a good question, she was just as curious though she had a growing suspicion.

The door opened and Mildred Hubble stepped out of the bedroom with Tabby in her arms, resplendent in her Pentangle's uniform.

Ethel's jaw dropped in outrage. "No," she said, shaking her head. "Why her?!"

Mildred quirked an eyebrow. To the surprise of Miss Hardbroom, Maud, Enid and the others, she performed the ritualistic greeting to them.

"Well met," she said simply, and the other girls, obeying the greeting said, "Well met, Mildred," back to her.

Miss Hardbroom was a little surprised Mildred had said the greeting so correctly. One of the reasons she had never told the girl about the greeting was because she felt the girl was more than capable to find a book of Witch etiquette and learn the ins and the outs from there, but another reason was it affronted Hecate's magical pride that a girl from outside the magical enclaves learn about magical customs and use them as if she had the right.

But seeing Mildred using them now so effortlessly and correctly, it startled Hecate a little bit.

Mildred turned to face her, and Hecate was surprised when Mildred performed the greeting for her. "Well met, Miss Hardbroom," Mildred said, but there was something in her voice that told the girls that she was not happy to see Miss Hardbroom, never mind give her the ritualistic greeting.

"Well met, Mildred Hubble," Hecate intoned, speaking the girl's name with the same displeased, slow quality that drew the syllables of Mildred's first and last names to make her displeasure known. Mildred lifted and eyebrow in a manner that said clearly "you haven't changed a bit, why should I not be surprised?" Out of the corner of Hecate's eye, she could see that Miss Miller looked displeased herself, but it was directed firmly at her opposite number.

Mildred looked at Enid, Maud and Ethel. "Well, how are you?" she asked almost uncertainly, but the bright smile on her face showed that she was making some effort to put the past behind her. "Good to see you again."

Maud and Enid were about to test the limits to see if Mildred would accept a hug, but before they could even try Ethel glared at her and lashed out before Maud or Enid could say anything. "Good? There's nothing good about you being mixed up in things," Ethel spat.

Mildred blinked in surprise. She had known Ethel wouldn't be happy finding out that she was bunking with her, but she had thought the girl had grown up a little bit enough to accept things quietly. Clearly not. "Honestly, why must you always take offence?" Mildred asked. "Surely after what happened, you'd be pleased you've got a roof over your head?"

"Not with you, Mildred Hubble," Ethel growled.

Karen shook her head. She was beginning to get the impression this girl was similar in some ways to Beatrice Black, but unlike Beatrice, the blond had the ability to be a witch. Too bad she sounded so petulant and childish.

"Now, come on, Ethel, give me a break! I like to start afresh every chance I get, I've changed a great deal since we last met; I might have messed your potion up during the Entrance Exam-," Mildred tried to say, but Ethel instantly got in her face. "Oh, you've got that right-!"

"But I have changed since then," Mildred finished, her voice rising as she began to lose her temper.

Miss Miller decided to step in at that point. "That's enough!" she shouted, glancing at Miss Hardbroom out of the corner of her eye, wondering why she was allowing this to go on. "I don't care what your problem is, but Mildred is no longer a Cackle's student. Whatever it is between you two, you have a chance to change it. Let me tell you now, I won't stand for it, and neither will the other teachers. It's time to grow up. Mildred asked for the three of you in her bedroom, but I don't know why she would ask someone childish and clearly holding onto a grudge to share her living space," she added, sending a quizzical look at Mildred, who looked back at her.

In a calmer voice, Karen told the four girls to get inside the bedroom. "Right, the rest of you follow me, and hopefully there won't be any one-sided feuds," she said.

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Maud, Enid, and even though she tried not to, Ethel were clearly impressed with Mildred's bedroom. After letting their own cats out of the baskets, the three girls looked around the bedroom. It was much less like a dungeon and more like a typical room at a house. Everything was brighter than the bedroom she had lived in at Cackles, and it felt more comfortable. One of the reasons the Cackle's bedrooms were uncomfortable was because witches were expected to live and adapt to their surroundings no matter what, but clearly Pentangles' didn't seem to care about that tradition. Mildred had certainly made the place as liveable as she could, and despite the newly installed beds, the place was quite large enough for the four of them. To the three Cackle's girls, the ensuite bathroom was a luxury. The bathroom at Cackles was meant to be shared in much the same manner as the showers at a gym.

Enid and Maud both knew Mildred mirror-called them from this bedroom so they weren't surprised to see the mirror on the desk, but Ethel was surprised by the sight of the mirror, and the address cards littered nearby. Dominating the room were drawings and paintings stuck to the walls, as well as pictures of Julie Hubble. Unlike her old Cackle's bedroom, Mildred had a number of sculptures - not large ones, but small knick-knacks to make this room very…..Mildred-y.

Despite her own curiosity, Ethel examined the books placed on the bookshelves. There were books on spells, but they were mostly books on enchanting.

"Have they found anything out about the fire?" Mildred asked as she sat on the bed, slowly and gently stroking Tabby.

Maud and Enid walked over to her, eyeing her cautiously before sitting down on the bed. "No," Enid whispered, cautiously reaching her hand out to stroke Tabby herself, but Mildred didn't seem to mind.

Enid gently stroked Tabby, getting her hand bashed gently for her efforts, and Maud reached out and gently petted him as well. "The fire was still going when we left," she explained, "the investigators refused to go anywhere near the castle in case some of the fiend-fyre somehow became active again."

"Does anyone know what's going to happen to the castle itself?" Mildred asked; she didn't want her new room-mates to get the impression she didn't want them here, she wasn't that type of person, but she was still uncomfortable about being near Maud and Enid again, to say nothing about having to put up with Ethel. She was beginning to regret thinking that Ethel would actually start acting mature and grateful if she heard how she, Mildred, had allowed her to share her bedroom.

After a few moments of thinking it through, Mildred just shrugged mentally to herself and decided that if Ethel grew up that would be great, but if she didn't then she wouldn't care.

Maud shook her head sadly - Mildred knew Maud had been excited by the prospect of getting into the same school the girls in her family had been attending for generations, so she knew being in another must be painful for her - and said, "No. The magic council will probably wrangle with the funds to repair the castle," she mumbled, so upset about what had happened.

Mildred bit her lip, fighting the temptation to ask Maud what it had been like, but she decided she could ask later.

"They might decide to close the school down rather than go through the trouble of repairing it," Ethel's voice interrupted them, and the three girls looked over at the blond. Ethel's face was grave, more so than usual, but Mildred could see the same sadness that was in Maud's face clearly reflected in Ethel's. Mildred had learnt enough about the witches code to know that when a family had successfully started a school, all successive generations had to attend the same place as well. The Hallows must have been sending their girls to Cackle's for years like the Spellbody girls had been, but Mildred wasn't sure how Ethel felt about what happened to school last night.

"Why do you say that?" Enid asked curiously, but the reply came from an unexpected force.

"Mrs Hallow is on the magic council," Mildred explained to the surprise of the three girls, "she's the head of education."

"That's right, but how did you know?" Ethel asked. Mildred was amazed by Ethel's talent of asking questions and making them as threatening as possible.

Miss Bluebell had told her not to tell anyone about her talent - that was need to know for them, Miss Pentangle, and the enchanting expects who were regularly coming to Pentangles to help her refine her skills.

"Miss Bluebell told me," Mildred replied, "she's been helping me practice my enchanting spells. I asked her why enchanting wasn't on the syllabus for other magical schools, she said your mother and some of her predecessors said enchanting wasn't necessary."

Swiftly changing the subject in case Ethel said something about her mother, Mildred leaned back. "I spoke to a couple of the potions teachers in the school, asking them about the fire spell that was used on Cackles. They said that if they had a choice, they would rather stick their heads into a Wildfire spell than that."

The three Cackles girls shuddered at the memory of the spell, and Mildred mentally kicked and slapped herself before punching herself for good measure for bringing it up so easily.

"Don't," Maud shuddered. "It was scary, you've no idea, Mildred. It was like a flaming hurricane was tearing through the school-,"

As she listened to Maud's graphic description about the fire that had reduced Cackle's to a burnt-out ruin, Mildred listened but wondered what kind of sick mind would want to destroy a school.

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Pippa Pentangle looked up from where she and her faculty - along with the Cackle's teachers - were eating at the staff table, and shook her head. While some of her students had decided to give the Cackle's students a chance and some of the students from the blitzed out school were sitting and chatting with some of the Pentangle's students.

But they were a minority whereas the majority of students wearing the drab grey uniforms were sitting at their own tables. Pippa had no intention of speaking to them and making them sit with the other students. She wasn't that pushy and controlling, if they wanted to eat at their own tables then they could, but if they caused problems for their classes then they would be in trouble.

She was glad but not really surprised to see Mildred was sitting at her table with her friends and some of the Cackles students. Some might say Mildred was being too forgiving, but Pippa knew she had gone past that point - Mildred was still angry and hurt by what had happened to her at Cackles, but she wasn't going to use that as an excuse to be nasty. It was clear that many of the Cackle's students believed she would be holding onto a grudge, but Mildred could see this wasn't the time or the place.

When pudding was over, Pippa stepped up to the podium and held up a hand, letting out a spell to grab the attention of her audience. "If I may have your attention please?" she said before she said clearly to the Cackle's students, "I hope you're all feeling at home at Pentangles after the trauma of last night, but tomorrow you will be returning to your usual lessons, under a new timetable. As you are here at Pentangles, you will be learning the same subjects as your peers."

Pippa smiled the same warm soft smile that had helped earn her respect from Mildred, but her smile faded and her expression became serious.

"The rivalries between our schools is now meaningless," she said softly, "I don't expect miracles overnight, but I can tell you this; I hope that all of you, both from Pentangles and from Cackles, become more friendly."

As she listened to the speech, Ethel Hallow had to admit to herself that Miss Pentangle was honest. Unlike others, she didn't beat around the hogweed and say stupid things that were meaningless and meant nothing. She had just admitted to them all that while she had allowed Cackles to stay here for as long as the castle was still gutted, she wasn't expecting miracles.

"All of you girls from Cackles academy will be placed into tutor groups - this is to make it easier for all of the teachers here to keep a watch over you," Pippa went on, "because unlike other schools, Pentangles doesn't have houses. We have tutor groups to help us care for the students. Granted, some of the tutor groups are too full to take some of you, so that means we will be forming new groups."

Pippa trailed off and paced up and down near the podium, clearly trying to work out how she was going to say what she wanted to say whatever was on her mind before she stepped back up.

"For the girls and teachers of Cackle's Academy. I know that until a couple of months ago, you hosted a girl from a non-witching family. Well, I've got news for you; there are a number of students from non-magical families at the school. I don't care what you think, but let me tell you one thing, if any one of you cause problems for those students, then I'll throw you out of my school. This is not Cackles. This is not a school where traditionalists rule the belfry. In this school, everyone has the right to learn magic, not just a select elite."

Mildred wasn't sure if she wanted to look around the hall to see how everyone felt about Miss Pentangle's latest addition to her speech - the students from Pentangles were used to the fact there were boys and girls from non-magical families, she among them - but she also remembered how some of the Cackle's students had been off with her because of her background, but she doubted they would cause serious problems.

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After dinner, the teachers from both schools filed into the staffroom. Pippa took a seat at the head of the table, Karen sitting to one side. All of the teachers greeted one another earlier, though Lexi Bluebell had transported herself straight into the staffroom during the meeting.

Karen had told Pippa about what happened earlier with Felicity Foxglove, but Pippa didn't plan on giving her friend a lecture. Just a talk. She smiled at the Cackles teachers and at her own faculty.

"I want to talk about the tutor groups that your students," she directed her attention towards the Cackle's teachers, "will be going into. Some of your students will need to be put into new groups we'll be sorting out in the next couple of days, but many of your students will be joining the groups we've got at the moment."

"What's the point of the groups?" Mr Rowan-Webb asked curiously.

"The tutor groups help us with our students so we can oversee their performance and their needs. For instance, all of our teachers have a few students from a non-magical background to help them mix with the other students," Pippa replied.

Pippa wasn't sure if she genuinely cared if the Cackle's faculty cared much about the idea of such a concept when their own house system was probably perfect in their eyes. For the next hour, the Pentangles teachers promised to allow some of the Cackle's students into their tutor groups. Unfortunately, some of the Cackle's teachers were a bit….. uncertain, which was a nice way to describe it, about the prospect of the groups, but after half an hour of having the fact drummed into the heads they were in another school which had another way of doing things, they finally saw sense.

The only problem was some of the Cackle's teachers were not really interested in taking on the role of tutor for their own students. Pippa was more than a little annoyed by that, but to her relief, Ada Cackle was hovering on her broomstick and said she was willing to make the effort to take some of the girls and form a group.

Pippa was relieved with that, and she was thankful when Hecate, Miss Drill, Miss Bat and Mr Rowan-Webb all followed Ada's example and volunteered to form their own groups. It wouldn't deal with all of the Cackle's students, but at least some of the students would be put into fresh groups without taking all the room in the other groups. One of the downsides to this plan was it would be a chance for the rivalry between Cackles and Pentangles to grow.

Pippa was relieved to get past the subject of tutor groups. Soon she and the teachers got into the teaching plan for the two schools. Pippa had no intention of letting these teachers teach their subjects separately, and she had made that clear to Ada, but fortunately the older woman had agreed. Hecate would be working with both Selina and Alice, and they would take joint classes. In fact all of them would. But Pippa knew without needing too that few of her teachers were really happy with the prospect of jointly sharing their classes with the Cackle's teachers, but she wasn't going to get into that - she was mentally tired. She had been up half of the night, sorting out these details with Karen and the others, the last thing she wanted was for the Cackles teachers to throw her efforts back into their faces.

When the teachers began to file out of the staffroom, while Miranda and Hermione went on since it was their turn to patrol the school in case of trouble - Pippa needed to make a mental note to bring up that subject later, she would have done it just now, but she had forgotten and besides there was always time, when she spotted Karen about to leave. Her deputy was picking up some pieces of paper and was about to leave when Pippa called her over.

Pippa envied Karen for being able to keep her exhaustion hidden, but she could see that her friend was a little bit frazzled. "What do you think?"

"I hope you're not expecting too much," Karen replied, knowing her friend well enough to guess what she was getting at, "we're going to clash, Pippa. Whether you like it or not, we're going to clash. You saw how they were unsure about the tutor groups."

Pippa hoped Karen was only being negative for the sake of it, but she knew that her friend was right.

But Karen had something else to say. "Pippa, when you went to Cackles, did you ever meet a girl called Ethel Hallow?"

"Yes, she and Mildred worked together on the Spelling Bee," Pippa said, a growing sense of unease as she began to guess where this was going, "why, what's happened?"

"Oh, that girl just rubs me the wrong way," Karen replied. "She was dismissive of enchanting, technomancy, and magical archaeology. When I took her and two other girls to Mildred's room, she was instantly in Mildred's face."

Pippa sighed. "Why was Ethel taken to Mildred's room in the first place?"

"That's the weird thing; apparently Mildred wanted her in her bedroom."

"What? I saw the way those two interacted at Cackles - there was no love between them. Why would Mildred want her in her bedroom?" Pippa wondered.

Karen shrugged. "I don't know, but I think Mildred may have wanted to clear things up between them. If that's the case then she's more mature than Ethel."

"I want you to be careful with her," Pippa warned. "That girl is the daughter of Ursula Hallow."

Karen groaned. "Ursula Hallow's daughter? Oh, great. I never could stand that pompous woman."

"Daughters. Plural," Pippa corrected. "Ethel and Esmerelda Hallow are both in the school at the moment. I'd try to keep Esmerelda away from Mildred as well if I were you; Tabby was injured badly by a curse from the girl when the Star Globe went missing."

"Tabby? Mildred's cat? This is getting better by the minute, and I'm wondering if Mildred's even thought through the fact she's allowed the younger sister of the girl who injured her familiar in her bedroom," Karen exclaimed.

"I don't see any reason to interfere now; it's happened, but if any thing does go wrong we can split the girls up. Have there been any other incidents apart with what happened with Lexi?"

"You heard about that then? What do you think we should do?"

Pippa gave it some thought but knew that if Mildred was indeed Lexi's protege there was nothing she could do, and besides Mildred had flourished under Lexi's directions. "I'll talk to her tomorrow," she decided; she should have done it earlier, but she had been so tired to think about it, and now that she was finally paying it some attention she knew she would have to make sure her enchanting teacher didn't say or do something she would regret. "Were there any other incidents?" Pippa asked, remembering what she had originally asked Karen.

"No," Karen shook her head, "none so far. But if there are going to be others, we'll both hear of them soon enough."

Pippa looked at her friend with a sigh escaping her mouth, knowing that Karen was right. The rivalry between the two schools was great, that was natural, but she hoped that the Cackle's teachers helped their students cope with the change in their lives.

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Author's notes.

1\. The Sensei was inspired by a minor character in The Avengers (not the Marvel comics thing) but the original TV series with Diana Rigg, who had a stoic appearance and was bald.

2\. What Mildred said to Ethel was inspired and taken from the Doctor Who audio story The Side of the Angels, in the Doom Coalition 4 anthology, when the Doctor met his old enemy, the Meddling Monk.


	15. Chapter 15 Settling in

I hate the fact that season two of the Worst Witch is ending today, but I've decided to post this chapter and the second chapter of my newest story as a kind of celebration.

Enjoy!

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Settling in.

Ethel Hallow woke up slowly, hoping that she had been dreaming. She wished Cackles Academy had not become a gutted and burnt out ruin caused by an insane and lethal pyromaniac with a penchant for brewing complex and dangerous potions and spells. But one look around the bedroom and her worst fears were confirmed. She was in Pentangles and she was sharing a bedroom with her enemies - Maud Spellbody, Enid Nightshade, and lastly the worst of all of them, Mildred Hubble.

For the life of her, Ethel had no idea why in the name of the Great Wizard Mildred had let them into her bedroom, especially after what Maud and Enid had done during that Star Globe business. Ethel remembered how she herself had behaved during that time, though she didn't feel guilty about it in the least despite feeling some weird connection with Mildred. Ethel disliked Mildred for many reasons. When Mildred and Maud had both flown into the school grounds on a broomstick, Ethel had already been reeling and hurt from Cackle and Hardbroom's boasts of pride about Esmerelda, about how the older girl was better than others at nearly everything, but when Mildred had stolen her potion ingredients and messing the potion for the entrance exam up, and she was being rewarded for something older and more accomplished witches could perform against Agatha, Ethel had been furious.

A girl from a non-magical family was being allowed into Cackles, and when the term actually began Ethel had loved seeing the girl put down in the manner she deserved.

But why had the dark-haired girl let them back into her life in such a manner? Ethel remembered how Mildred had deliberately made her cry during the Spelling Bee competition, and the words she had said back to her in retaliation for being called the Worst Witch had really upset Ethel. Mildred had changed during that point in their lives; she had shown her true colours. Ethel had always believed that behind that sweet, kind, and loving demeanour, Mildred was essentially a nasty person, but that was what a part of her mind said about her. It was just so hard for her to reason it out.

But that didn't forgive the way Mildred had spoken to Esmerelda about Tabby. Ethel could understand why Mildred would be furious with the older girl for injuring her familiar - the bonds that joined a witch and her familiar were sacred, and if someone injured your familiar…. But that didn't excuse the fact Mildred had essentially made Esmerelda cry, bringing her down to her lowest ebb and had Cackle and Hardbroom revoke her head girl status.

Looking at the dark-haired girl, who was just beginning to wake up, Ethel wondered how she was going to cope being with Mildred Hubble. Meanwhile Mildred was getting out of bed, and she stretched her arms a few times to get some life back into her limbs. She had been thinking back on her decision to let Maud and Enid into her life by letting them share her bedroom but she genuinely wanted Ethel and her to sort through whatever issues there were between them, though sometimes Mildred wondered if she was wasting her time.

Still, only time would tell. But more than anything… Mildred was doing it to gain a sort of forgiveness from Ethel. Ever since she had come to Pentangles, she had let go of the anger that had plagued her final days at Cackles. She also wanted to make it up to Miss Cackle and the other teachers, though she genuinely wanted them to go back to their own lives, but she wanted things to be a bit more amicable between them.

But…. she remembered saying some truly nasty things, and she wanted to try to make up for that. Mildred looked at the three girls, and saw that while Enid and Maud were asleep, Ethel wasn't.

The blonde girl was sitting up, watching her with a look Mildred couldn't really identify. Mildred was torn between speaking to her now, and trying to develop some kind of understanding, but she decided against it in the end. She walked over to the wardrobe and picked out a clean uniform - Maud, Enid, and Ethel had already put their uniforms in with hers, but she didn't mind that, grabbed a towel and went into the bathroom to clean up, locking the door to make sure she didn't have any unwanted company.

When Mildred came out of the bathroom, she was busy shoving her hair into a messy ponytail - she had worn her hair in pigtails at Cackles because she had found that style easy to wear, but she had quickly adopted it as part of her style when dealing with potions, but unfortunately being at Cackles had practically torn away her desire to wear her hair in other styles. Now, Mildred either wore her hair in ponytails, crowns, plaits or in a messy bun.

She found Maud and Enid getting up. "Bathroom's free, you guys," she said and headed over to her bed to grab her shoes.

Enid was the one who went in first, knowing that Ethel would take forever, leaving Maud with Mildred and Ethel.

The plump girl was trying to find something to talk about with Mildred, but she wasn't sure what she could say to Mildred, especially after how their friendship had practically been torn to pieces. But there was also the matter of Ethel being in the bedroom - she wanted their talk to be between herself, Enid, and Mildred.

"Have you talked to your mum and dad?" Mildred asked.

Maud blinked in surprise. "No, why?"

Mildred looked at her as if she had just walked in something disgusting and smelly. "So you can tell them you're okay," she said in a tone that said 'I thought you were smart.'

"Oh," Maud kicked herself mentally, and cursed herself and Mildred for making all of this so difficult. "No, I haven't got the card. That night I think everyone was more concerned getting out of the place before it burnt to the ground."

This time it was Mildred's turn to kick herself. Of course everyone would be more focused on escaping the school when it was burnt down they'd forget things like the mirror cards. "Sorry," she said sheepishly. "I just thought you'd let them know you're okay."

Maud smiled back at her. "Thanks anyway, Mildred," she replied before a thought occurred to her. "What about your mum, are you going to talk to her?"

Mildred checked the time. "I'll talk to her later."

"How is she?"

Mildred wondered if Maud was genuinely concerned about Julie's welfare or if she was still reading too much into the residual anger she had left inside of her, but she decided to just answer the question. "She's okay, thanks, Maud," Mildred smiled, though it quickly disappeared. "You, erm, might want to be out of sight when I next mirror her. She, er, doesn't know you, Enid, and Ethel are sharing my bedroom, and she doesn't know about the fire."

"Oh," Maud said, her mind blank, suddenly dreading the thought of speaking to Mildred's mother. She had met the woman in the flesh before, and she liked Julie, whose kindness reminded her of her own mother. But she didn't want to know what the woman thought about her and Enid after what had happened, and she was sure Mildred had told her about what happened.

Mildred waited for the other girls to get ready, using the time to give Tabby his breakfast - she was partway worried about how Tabby would cope with the new additions in the room, and she hoped Nightstar didn't give Tabby any troubles. Mildred had caught quite a bit of flak off the other girls because Tabby didn't seem to behave like an ordinary familiar as if the fact he wasn't a black cat like the others wasn't bad enough. Personally Mildred didn't really care whether Tabby was a tabby or a black cat or even a siamese, she loved him too much to care. She had been annoyed with the fact she wasn't getting a black cat at first, but now she didn't care. It wasn't as though it mattered.

When she had arrived at Pentangles, Mildred had learnt other schools gave witches and wizards a diverse collection of animals to become their familiars - for instance, one school gave their students ravens, another gave them owls, others gave them snakes. It didn't matter much to them, they were just following different cultural traditions.

Mildred hoped that Tabby kept out of the way of the three new cats in her bedroom, but then again he never really went out of his way to cause trouble with other cats at all. But having Maud, Enid and Ethel in the room, the sister of the girl who had injured him….. she hoped she was going to cope.

Ethel came out of the shower at the same time that a knock came from the door.

"It's open," Mildred called out, but when the door opened and Esmerelda Hallow stepped in Mildred instantly grabbed Tabby and, ignoring his yowls of surprise, pulled him closer to her.

Esmerelda noticed what Mildred had done right away, and Maud and Enid looked at each other nervously, wondering what was going to happen. "Well met, Mildred," the older girl greeted.

Mildred had learnt enough witch etiquette to know if she didn't return the greeting it would be considered an insult, and she didn't need any trouble, not at this time of the morning, and besides she had told Ethel the day before she liked starting fresh every chance she got, and if she ignored Esmerelda she would be looking like a hypocrite.

"Well met, Esmerelda," Mildred returned the greeting, thankful she had asked Miss Bluebell about the greeting during one of their sessions. At the time, Mildred had been curious about magical traditions and since the enchanting teacher had been more than happy to explain some details to her, Mildred had taken advantage of it.

Esmerelda smiled at the dark-haired girl before she turned to Ethel. "Are you all settled in?" she tried to say cheerfully, but everyone caught the guilty looks the blonde was sending towards Mildred, and the looks of distrust from the dark-haired girl on the bed.

"Yes, thanks," Maud smiled, hoping to diffuse some of the tension. She had done her level best to forgive Esmerelda for what had happened to Tabby, knowing that Mildred was justified in her anger. It was clear she wasn't going to trust the older blonde again. She only hoped things didn't go from awkward to really bad.

"We've got a shower!" Enid boasted though Esmerelda caught the way Mildred rolled her eyes.

"I know, we've got one too," Esmerelda said to Enid.

Mildred smirked as Enid looked as if the bubble had burst before she looked at Esmerelda curiously. "Who are you bunking with, you said we've got one?" she asked.

"Oh, I'm with two other Pentangles girls. Fenella Feverfew and Griselda Blackwood," Esmerelda said.

"Ah, be prepared to be roped into their pranks," Mildred warned her, though she was sure the blonde had already spent the night enduring their double-act.

"Pranks?" Enid repeated, a gleam appearing in her eyes.

"Sorry, but those two have more taste," Mildred replied, "they like disrupting the chanting classes, and all-sorts, but they take their studies seriously. They always make Miss Pentangle laugh."

Ethel was getting tired of this talk of pranking and how they were being rewarded for it, so she was glad when Esmerelda turned her attention back to her. "How did you sleep?" Esmerelda asked her younger sister.

Mildred sighed and hoped Ethel didn't begin complaining about her new roommates. She didn't need any grief from the children when she was only a few weeks away from speaking to their mother.

"I was fine," Ethel said shortly, "until I was told to shut up and stop snoring."

The younger blonde sent a death glare towards Maud, who looked a bit sheepish; Mildred wished her former friend were a bit more assertive and didn't let Ethel win all the time. Mildred looked at Esmerelda, wondering what she was going to say and do about this. Ethel had never needed Esmerelda to hold her hand for anything, but she did rely on the older girl to use her head girl status to pull her out of trouble (Mildred noticed that the sash across Esmerelda's waist was an ordinary purple sash like her sisters, and she wondered what had happened to it before Tabby lazily batted her in the eye, and she wondered if Cackle and HB had punished her for his injury, but this wasn't the time to think about that) whenever she did something stupid.

Fortunately Esmerelda didn't seem interested in getting involved with this battle, if it could be called that. "I'm sorry, Ethie," she replied, ignoring the glare she received back from her sister for using the nickname (Mildred didn't understand why Ethel was always so resistant to her big sister calling her that, but she had a feeling the two girls knew the reason but like so many other things in that family it made perfect sense to them), and added, "but you do snore."

Mildred almost laughed when Ethel shouted, "ESME!"

The older blonde held up her hand to forestall any arguments - Mildred was hoping Esmerelda had some luck there, though in the past it could always go both ways - from Ethel. "Sorry, Ethel, but you do snore. And you guys are going to have to find ways to cope."

Mildred shrugged her shoulders. She hadn't really noticed the snoring coming from Ethel last night; she had woken up from a dream which coincided with Tabby wanting some water, and she had noticed the chainsaw massacre which was Ethel's snoring, but when she was asleep she hadn't noticed a thing, and she thanked her lucky stars she was a deep sleeper.

Unfortunately, Maud and Enid were not.

Mildred ignored the girls as they talked, and she prepared to get her bag to get out of the room - she wanted to get down to the hall to have her breakfast, but she had to put up with Esmerelda trying, and failing, to have a conversation with her younger sister. Mildred watched the pair of them. She had taken Miss Miller's advice. The Witches' code was full of interesting bits and pieces that explained why the two siblings were usually so tense when often their relationship was amicable.

Mildred knew why Ethel was so driven, and while she felt sorry for her she wished the girl had found other outlets to channel her temper.

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The girls headed down to the hall together - Mildred was with them although part of her didn't want to be there, though she was relieved as they got closer.

Maud found herself looking more into her friend's face. Mildred was so different now, and it wasn't just the school uniform. In many ways, this version of Mildred reminded Maud of the girl she'd met on that day of the Entrance Exam. Maud sighed mentally, knowing that it was partially her fault for the way Mildred's confidence had been robbed from her because of her lack of understanding of magic and their world.

Now….. instead of appearing slightly cowed and robbed of her confidence like the Cackles-Mildred had been, the Pentangles-Mildred literally blazed with confidence and happiness. Maud was upset, but she was happy Mildred was finally happy herself. She just wished that she had helped her stay happy instead of going along with the code, and forcing Mildred to try to help herself when she was completely outside the rules.

Esmerelda split off from Ethel and the group when the girls entered the hall, and Enid and Maud were surprised when Mildred headed towards a table with a small group of girls and boys, and they recognised Sapphire and Zac from the Spelling Bee. Were they Mildred's friends now? Maud exchanged a look with Enid, seeing the same sadness in her eyes, but they approached carefully, wondering how these students would feel about them. They must know about what happened with the globe.

Mildred saw them look indecisive and waved them over.

Sapphire watched as Mildred's (former?) friends from Cackles approached the table both looking worried about being with them. Part of Sapphire wondered what they were so worried about. Mildred had been furious but mostly hurt about what had happened with the globe. She had learnt that the spells placed on it had caused Maud, Enid, and everyone else to turn on Mildred, feasting on their deep-rooted anger with the girl.

Their friendship would never return to what it used to be, and that upset Sapphire. She had seen the looks of hope on Maud and Enid's faces as they had tried to make up for what their angry thoughts had led them to do.

Sapphire had managed to talk to Mildred about where she thought she now was with Maud and Enid, but her friend had been short with her at even broaching the topic at first. It had taken time but Mildred had eventually told her that while she had called a 'truce' with the two, she hadn't made many overtures of friendship with them.

Now she had no choice.

Sapphire only hoped these two didn't do something stupid, but she also hoped Mildred would be okay.

As she watched them sit down, Mildred thought about the recent events. It wasn't her problem who burnt Cackles down, but she guessed who ever had burnt the school down was still out there, and their eye would probably be pointing at Pentangles. Mildred hoped nothing happened - she had learnt her lessons since Cackles. She had knack for getting into trouble and she didn't want any aggravation now. She wasn't going to interfere. She wasn't going to investigate what happened, and besides it wasn't her place to poke around.

Mildred worried about what was going to happen in the next few weeks. She had been telling the truth when she had told Ethel Hallow the night before that she had changed, but Ethel had not believed her - Mildred knew she hadn't - she could see it in the blonde's eyes, but she didn't really care what was going through the blonde's mind.

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Hecate Hardbroom had not had a good morning.

She and the Pentangles deputy headmistress had been working on the final details of the new timetable. The idea was simple - the Cackle's teachers would co-teach with their Pentangle's counterparts and jointly teach their students at the same time while the other Pentangles teachers would teach both Pentangles and Cackles students.

The hard part was organising the timetables. Hecate had learnt that in each year there were two or three tutor groups, and Miss Miller ran one group herself, and she had sounded out the other teachers in Pentangles to see if they were willing to allow more students into their groups. The good news was they had agreed, and truthfully Cackles didn't have a large school population but it was still sizeable. Some of the Cackle's teachers would need to take some of their students and form new tutor groups, but Hecate planned to ask them if they could do it.

But that wasn't why Hecate had had a bad morning.

She had decided to ask Miss Miller questions about the non-magical students, and she had become defensive.

"Why do you want to know?"

"I am just…curious," Hecate had replied.

Miss Miller narrowed her eyes. "What do you want to know about them?"

"Are they difficult to teach?" Hecate had asked as she let her mind go back to when she was teaching Mildred Hubble. The dark-haired girl had given her dozens of headaches with her mistakes and she needed to know if the others would be just as challenging.

Miss Miller's eyes were still narrowed in annoyance. "They can be," she'd conceded. "But they can also be phenomenally good students, if given a chance. I do my best to help them. One of the reasons why Pentangles offers a basics classes for Spells and Potions isn't just to help teach other methods to students from magical families learn more about the subjects and make them more rounded, they are also there to help students who have never experienced those subjects before. Usually whenever a student from a non-magical family comes to Pentangles, we put them into one of those classes, give them some basic tuition and then move them into the main classes while letting them stay in the basics classes."

Hecate was in two minds about students, particularly her own students, being placed in those lessons. Many of her students didn't need or would even want those classes.

"It helps them improve and allows them to get used to their new lives," Miss Miller went on, "and they have also helped students from more traditional families. What really helps is that when non-magical students come here, they're shown other classes where the subjects are taught from scratch. They're used to that."

Hecate had not been too impressed. Part of magical tradition said that witches and wizards were taught the basics of magic as children. The parents were the ones to help students understand how potions and magic worked so they would then have the skills necessary to learn magic before entering a school to become even better. The idea of students learning such things from scratch was totally alien to her. At that point, Hecate had decided to ask Miss Miller a personal question.

"And what of you?"

Miss Miller hadn't seemed too happy at the question, and she had tried to stall from answering it. "What do you mean?"

"Are you from a non-magical family? Your name is unusual," Hecate had said, it wasn't her intention to be rude or condescending towards this woman, but the moment the words were out of her mouth she knew that Miss Miller was furious.

"Lexi was right, you are pathetic. What is it about every one in this world, why do you look down on people who didn't grow up with the code ringing in their ears, or knowing spells? Yeah, I am from a non-magical family," Karen's eyes were burning with rage now, sparks were dancing around her, "I had to go to a school where I was barely tolerated. I studied the witches' code to learn all I could about the magical world. Thanks to that I became a better witch."

Karen thankfully came out of her anger and focused on Hecate, who was looking at her, surprised by the anger. "I had virtually nothing until I came to Pentangles when Pippa learnt about me, and she invited me here. She gave me a job, a home, and responsibilities," Karen paused as she stared back at Hecate, her eyes solemn and her expression drawn. "One of the reasons I have such a large majority of non-magical students in my tutor group is so then I can help them in ways I was not."

Hecate could see how much of an advantage that would be to the students from the non-magical families to have someone like them helping them adjust to their new world. Finally, she had to ask the question which had just entered her mind. "Is Mildred Hubble in your group?"

Karen's expression told her she had a nerve asking that question, but she answered it regardless. "Yes, she is. Why do you ask?"

Hecate sighed. "I am merely concerned about her-,"

"If that were true," Karen interrupted, turning back to return to her work, "why did you hurt her so badly?"

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It didn't take Maud and Enid long to find out that the majority of Mildred's friends at Pentangles were from the non-magical world themselves. A few of them had never experienced any other magical school than Pentangles, though truthfully they didn't really want too considering what they had heard from others like Mildred herself. They were a little bit….wary around her and the other Cackles' students, and Maud wondered if she could ever try to move on from that mess with the globe.

Maud had thought that after knowing Mildred she'd be ready in case she ever met someone from the non-magical world, but there was a sheer diversity here. Sapphire and Zac were both Mildred's friends, but they had clearly introduced her to the girls and boys at the table. The only problem Maud and Enid had with them was while they seemed okay with them being here was they didn't want them here and Maud wondered, really wondered, how much of that was down to what had happened with Mildred.

Part of her hoped it was the old school rivalries, but she couldn't shake the impression that, for these guys, that was exactly what this was about.

"How are you settling in?" Maud was shaken out of her reverie by a girl with dark-blonde hair cut into a stylish and neat bob. The girl had introduced herself as Alice Winchester.

"Do you mean in general, or how our rooms were?" Maud asked.

"Both."

"The room was amazing. You guys are so lucky," Enid, who had been eavesdropping, broke in - Maud glared lightly at her, making a face because she found it rude Enid was interrupting her. It never failed to amaze her Enid was still falling into the same bad habits like she had done when she had first entered Cackles.

Alice didn't seem to really care about the interruption, or she hadn't seen it as one. "You haven't seen our lessons yet," the girl smiled, "some of them are better than the usual witch subjects."

Even Enid looked a little offended at the unintended insult and dig into magical tradition, but Alice went on, and Maud was starting to ask herself if Alice even knew she was offending them, but the girl was more perceptive than they expected her to be.

"Oh don't get me wrong, we've got those subjects here at Pentangles, what witch school would be without them?" Alice smiled. "But we've got other subjects for you to enjoy."

Maud wasn't sure how to take this. She had little idea what many of the subjects in Pentangles were for, her mother and father had never really spoken much about Pentangles and other magical schools except for the basics and their general reputations, but since her parents had never once imagined she would one day be forced to come to this school, she hadn't seen the need to look at the prospectus offered by this school.

"We saw the classrooms yesterday," she said, hoping to fish for information.

Alice shook her head. "Nah, seeing the classrooms yesterday doesn't prepare you for the experience."

"Why does Pentangles offer the spell and potions basics classes?" Enid asked curiously.

"Not everyone magically raised student has equal proficiency in using potions and spells, so it's a good idea to have classes to boost their confidence," Alice explained, "although for non-magical students, the classes are a good way for us to learn about magic without having to brew truly complicated potions."

Another girl looked up her breakfast, Mildred had also looked up - Maud and Enid both had the feeling that Mildred had benefited from those classes, and contributed to her new confident persona - but they didn't say anything, they both seemed content in letting Alice speak.

Maud weighed up the pros and cons of such classes. "I can imagine how good those classes are-," she said, but Alice interrupted her this time.

"They are," she confirmed, "there are students in this school who had problems with their potions, now they've improved.'

"What are the other classes like?" Enid asked, hoping to move the subject along a touch. "We met the enchanting teacher, Miss Bluebell-,"

"Oh, she's lovely," Alice interrupted again, gushing happily at the mention of the enchanting class, "her classes are fun!"

"Lovely?! She was off with Felicity when she told her her name," Enid exclaimed.

Alice's smile faded. "What, but she's never like that," her voice trailed off before her smile returned, "anyway, I'm sure she didn't mean it. Did you meet anyone else?" she asked, sending a look towards the rest of her friends - some of them were still eating, but a few of them had overheard what Enid had just said. Maud felt a little uncomfortable when she realised they didn't understand it any better than they themselves did.

But she felt it was a good idea to move on.

"We met the Sensei yesterday….," Maud said but her voice trailed off as everyone at the table, especially those who were eating but now proved that they were listening in on their conversation, became stiff and a couple even winced. Their reactions were not encouraging. Especially Mildred's.

"What's wrong, what's he like?"

Alice looked between the two Cackle's girls, and out of the corner of her eye she could see the other Cackle girls listening in very closely, and she had the impression they had realised very quickly the Sensei was not someone they wanted to mess around with.

They had no idea how right they were.

But Alice wasn't sure of the best way she could describe the man. "Well, you see, he's-," she tried to say, but Sapphire interrupted; not for the first time since her arrival, Maud wished she had a better idea of what Sapphire was like, but she seemed nice enough.

"The Sensei's not like your ordinary teacher. If you're expecting him to sit you down and lecture you, then you had better rethink your definition of teacher," she explained. "When you enter the room, you're instantly expected to be prepared to defend yourself."

"I remember my first classes, I had bruises for weeks!" Mildred put in, and Maud and Enid looked at one another, and more than a few of the Cackle's students looked even more worried about the prospect of being taught by him. "But don't worry, he still teaches his classes," Mildred added, "he teaches a combination of duelling spells and martial arts you'd get from the non-magical world, and he forces us to exercise, and make us run around."

Maud grimaced at the thought of exercising. She had never been particularly interested in physical activity.

But Mildred and the Pentangles students had no intention of telling anyone from Cackles what the Sensei did in the classes. There was a kind of unspoken rule in Pentangles where no-one from the teachers to the students spoke about what the Sensei did. When Mildred herself had discovered it….

It still made her shudder.

At that point, some of the teachers appeared carrying sheafs of paper and handing it out to the Cackle's students. It was the new timetable. The Pentangle students didn't receive anything from them. Maud and Enid took a look at their timetables and compared them to the others at the table.

The two girls were being split up from Mildred - in the mornings on Wednesdays Mildred always had Herbology followed by Ancient Runes, Enchanting, and then Potions followed by lunch, then Technomancy, Transfiguration and Charms.

Maud's timetable was Ancient Runes, Enchanting, Charms, potions, lunch, herbology, and lastly chanting. Enid's classes were closer to Mildred's than Maud's - she had Ancient runes at the same time, following up with Enchanting, Potions, lunch, Technomancy, chanting, Magical Defence, and Transfiguration.

When breakfast was over, the students were ushered out of the hall and to their lessons, but before they left Maud and Enid had a surprise when a cute guy approached them.

"Mildred!"

Maud and Enid were surprised when Mildred turned and smiled back at the boy. "Hey Merlin!" she greeted happily, "How're things?"

"Not bad, schools a bit packed but that's life. You going to help me with Enchanting later?"

Mildred shrugged, but Maud and Enid were even more surprised by the hint of a blush on their friend's face. "Sure, usual time?"

Merlin looked sheepish. "'Fraid not, got a detention for not paying attention with the Bones's."

Mildred's face fell, "Any other ideas?"

Merlin stepped closer. "How about after dinner?"

Mildred's smile returned. "Yours or mine?"

Maud and Enid looked at each other in surprise. Was Mildred…flirting?

Merlin's cheeks pinked. "Mine's gonna be packed, but I think it'll be okay."

Maud and Enid were unsure if that would be a good idea since there was no telling how those boys might feel having a girl in the same room they were bunking in.

"Sure," Mildred smiled before she leaned in and pecked Merlin on the cheek, shocking the onlooking Cackle's students. "See you then."

These little public displays of affection were becoming more and more common in Pentangles, so the Pentangles students had become accustomed to them, and Sapphire and Mildred's new girl friends didn't seem to care much about the relationship.

But that didn't stop Sapphire sighing and looking at Maud and Enid with a mock long suffering look. "Only been here a couple of months and she's already got a boyfriend," she snarked while Merlin walked off, leaving Mildred with pinked cheeks, but at the sound of her friend's comment, the dark-haired girl glared at her. "Knock it off, Sapph," she retorted, "just 'cause you haven't had a date doesn't mean we have to put up with you going on about others."

"But you're so lucky!" Sapphire whined.

Mildred rolled her eyes, but by that point Miss Bluebell came by, laughing but the enchanting teacher was passing by. "Okay, that's enough now," she said, trying her best to be stern, but the twinkle in her eyes and the smile as she regarded her now blushing student spoke of the humour she was feeling. "Get to your lessons now, especially you newcomers from Cackles," she added for the benefit of the Cackle's students, and this time there was no animosity in her visage. "You need to settle in to your new lessons, go on."

The teacher was about to leave but Mildred stopped her. "Excuse me, Miss Bluebell, can I talk to you about….well, you know?"

Miss Bluebell seemed to understand. "Oh, okay, so long as it's quick."

Maud and Enid looked at each other, but another teacher ushered them away.

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Potions was the first co-taught subject Mildred had to go through. The morning's lessons had gone by very well - it was taught today by Miss Pentangle, who was covering for the usual herbology teacher who was currently helping Miss Miller with an administrative issue. Miss Pentangle would sometimes take over the teaching arrangements in the school, or she would help tutor those girls or boys who needed her help.

With how packed the school was, it was probably no surprise at all that the girls and boys in the class had to learn from her today, though what the blunder was it must have taken ages because the regular teacher came to the greenhouses and Pentangle's magical allotments with a tired expression.

"Thanks, Pippa," the teacher had said when the pink-clad headmistress was about to transport away.

Mildred's next class was in Ancient Runes. In many ways, the class was similar to all those school projects she'd learnt in Primary school when it came to studying the Ancient Egyptians, but runes were incredibly different.

The best thing about the class was that it was something that was taught from scratch, so the Cackle's students here had problems adapting to the new strategy. There were over a dozen Cackle's students in the classroom - Felicity, Enid, Ethel, Gloria and a few others were in the class. Mildred had decided to sit next to Enid for that class, deciding that a friendly face would help the girl ease herself into the lessons.

Runes was a fairly straight forward class - you studied the runes from a book, listened to the teacher explain more about them, and then draw them out on magical paper. The styluses were specially made to not overpower the runes that were drawn, and the teacher had the eyes of a hawk. One of the best things about the class was he knew when a student tried to be too clever for their own good, so when Ethel Hallow asked why they couldn't go further, the teacher said he would be the one to decide where they went with their studies.

Sharing Enchanting lessons with her former peers was difficult for Mildred, and for the first time in her life as a witch she witnessed for herself the other Cackle's students flounder. They had never before performed any magic in this field before, so it was a new experience for them, but Mildred knew that in time they would get better. She just hoped they didn't laud it over her, she didn't want her favourite classes to become all about Ethel Hallow and how brilliant she was, though that might not happen.

The best thing about the class was Ethel Hallow had little interest in the lessons and she was clearly not liked by Miss Bluebell, but unlike with Miss Hardbroom who was constantly judging standards and performance, Miss Bluebell gave Ethel another chance to see that this type of magic was not something to be discarded just because Mrs Hallow believed it was obsolete.

Mildred hadn't expected the classes that were closer to the ones she had been taught at Cackles to be co-taught, but when she stepped through the door leading into the Potions classroom, she was surprised to see the black, rake-like form of Miss Hardbroom, still dressed in black and her hair pulled back into that bun that it stretched her pale face.

Miss Rainstorm was standing next to her, and judging from the white coat she was wearing she wasn't going to be brewing a difficult or complex potion today. Mildred couldn't help but feel a small amount of the hard-won confidence she had felt build and grow within her leak out of her like a sieve trickling out of the holes.

Hardbroom.

Mildred sighed and took her seat, hoping with all her soul Hardbroom would leave her alone today. The class was large enough and the two teachers would be working with the students, so hopefully, HB would leave her in peace.

Miss Rainstorm walked in front of the massive potions worktop where she demonstrated the potions she wanted her class to brew, her expression was serious.

"Right, myself and Miss Hardbroom have been fielding questions about the incident that has burnt Cackles' down," Miss Rainstorm began; the moment the words were out of her mouth, she wished she could suck them back in upon seeing the expressions on the faces of the Cackle's students and the way Miss Hardbroom looked constipated.

Selina had been dreading teaching her classes with Miss Hardbroom ever since Pippa had gotten the brilliant if logical idea that it was for the best, and she still remembered how she did not want this woman anywhere near her students when Mildred Hubble had arrived at Pentangles. And her worst fears were confirmed when she saw Mildred looking at the dark potions mistress with dread.

If this woman, this interloper caused problems for Mildred….

"Those questions have been driving us both mad for the last couple of hours," Selina went on, "so myself and Miss Hardbroom are going to talk to you about Magical Greek Fiend-fyre. If you are lucky, you will only see it twice in your lifetimes, unfortunately for those who join the magical fire service, you're bound to encounter it more than you would like."

"Magical Greek Field-fyre is one of the most dangerous and destructive spells known to magical kind around the world," Miss Hardbroom said, her expression that same wide-eyed and almost maniacal as she pierced every student in the classroom, her eyes lingering on Mildred for a moment before moving on. "It was invented by a Byzantine wizard who witnessed the non-magical version, and he wanted to use his potions knowledge to create something better."

"Unfortunately, at the time the wizard didn't realise that while he had the knowledge, he didn't stop to think if he should," Miss Rainstorm took over, "it took a while, we don't know how long it took, so don't ask, but when he was finished, he had come up with a truly complex potion. Most elemental spells can be made with a single potion brewed in a single cauldron; that makes magic easy and simple. But not this spell. It takes days to make. You are looking at a binary potion - there are several different components that need to be brewed with care. When it comes to mixing them, the potion by that point is already volatile. When its set off, the only thing that will stop it from burning its way through whatever is in its path is to remove its magical components."

Mildred raised her hand. Miss Rainstorm saw it and nodded in her direction. "Yes, Mildred?"

"I was just wondering why someone would use that spell and not something different and easier to make?" Mildred lowered her hand. "I mean, surely there are easier spells to use?"

Selina detected a slight twinge of anxiety in Mildred's voice and hoped that the presence of her old potions mistress and her old classmates wasn't going to bring down her confidence. She'd talk to Mildred later about it, she decided.

"That's a very good question, Mildred, and one that many people are asking. This type of spell is hard to make, the ingredients are hard to come by and are under regulation, and it's too dangerous to be controlled."

But Mildred had another question in mind. "Miss, why would anyone use it?"

Selina sighed. "It's a powerful spell, Mildred, and the only way to stop it is to remove the magical components. Without them, the spell loses its magic, but with them, the spell can turn a city into a smoking hole in the ground. Now," she clapped her hands, "no magical school teaches anything about this spell, and they never will. But if you take potions at college then you will see this spell in action. The potion masters and mistresses at college who are experts at creating this potion need to be rigorously trained, regulated, and certified to make it. They also have to swear on the code to never use this type of magic to cause harm."

The potions lesson began after that. The potion they were to make was relatively simple, a more basic transformation potion than what was taught in later years.

Together Miss Rainstorm and Miss Hardbroom checked over the work of the students, and the Cackles students were quick to pick up on the differences between the two teachers. Miss Hardbroom walked around and criticised the students whenever they didn't get something right but Miss Rainstorm gently told the students where they were going wrong. While the Cackles students were afraid but respectful towards Miss Hardbroom, they were surprised by how willing Miss Rainstorm went in order to explain how things worked. Many of the girls had different strengths when it came to potions - for a few of the students in the room, particularly the boys, this potion was relatively easy and straight forward to make. For others they had problems with the ingredient measurements.

Unfortunately, Selina was unable to stop Miss Hardbroom from heading over to Mildred Hubble. Selina and Alice had worked long and hard to get the girl up to standards with potions - they knew that potions were vital to the education of a witch or wizard, but they both knew Mildred wasn't really strong when it came to potions because the ingredients required a specialised care that Mildred was only just learning how to do, but Mildred was still a long way to go from becoming a good student, but she was okay.

Too bad Miss Hardbroom was unable to keep the criticism out of her voice. "What are you doing Mildred Hubble?"

Mildred almost jumped out of her skin as she looked up into the eyes of the potions mistress, and for a moment she was back in the potions classroom at Cackles and not the state of the art lab in Pentangles. But that quickly faded away.

"Making my potion, Miss Hardbroom," she said.

"But you are working too slowly, Mildred Hubble," Miss Hardbroom said in her unblinking and silent manner.

Wishing the woman would stop saying her first and surnames like that, Mildred tried to explain, hoping she sounded more confident than she felt. "I know, Miss Hardbroom," Mildred said slowly but clearly to keep the nervousness out of her voice, hating Miss Hardbroom for reducing her to a nervous wreck again. It was happening to her again. Miss Hardbroom was once more reducing her to a shadow of her former self. "I am making my potion slowly so then I don't make any mistakes."

She had learnt of this technique not long after she'd arrived at Pentangles, both of her Pentangle potion mistresses had witnessed the way she had messed up potions, and had prescribed she make her potions slowly - it was an old technique used by witches and wizards to take their time so they could be careful with the potions they were brewing.

Mildred felt the method made sense - in the past witches and wizards had probably taken their time making potions, slowly adding more ingredients to make them more potent and more successful, and it was a technique that was working for her, and thanks to that method of potions making she was getting better grades here at Pentangles than she had in Cackles. Okay, so she wasn't a potions mistress, but she was gaining more confidence.

It figured Miss Hardbroom would be tearing down her confidence.

Miss Hardbroom looked like she wasn't impressed, but then again in all the time, Mildred had known her the woman was not impressed. Mildred was surprised by herself.

Where had her apathy for this woman gone?

Why did she care what HB thought about her, especially after that visit her mother had told her about only a couple of weeks ago?

Miss Rainstorm stepped in before Miss Hardbroom said anything. "Miss Hardbroom, I will take care of Mildred," she said to the other potions mistress softly so then the rest of the class didn't sense a drama coming. "Please, just go."

Hecate looked like she was about to say something, but Miss Rainstorm had her eyebrow raised, and she folded her arms, making sure the slight release of magical energy made it clear that she was serious.

"Very well, but this girl is responsible for dozens of potion accidents," Hecate said, but Selina snorted. "The only reason she made those mistakes is because you never took her aside and gave her tutorials about how potions worked and behaved. It's not her fault that she didn't grow up to be a witch," she hissed.

Selina had heard what Lexi had said in private to Karen, and she shared her colleague's opinions on the matter. Mildred was a special child and like all the non-magically raised children in the school they needed to be shown guidance and patience, not bullying and harassment.

When the dark potions mistress walked away, Selina crouched down near Mildred.

"I-I'm sorry, Miss Rainstorm, I didn't mean for you two to argue-," Mildred tried to apologise.

"Don't be sorry. I've been clashing with her all morning. In fact, I'm halfway tempted to just divide this class so then she teaches the Cackles lot and I teach the Pentangles lot, but that is an option of last resort. Listen, just do what you've been doing, take it slowly Mildred. Rushing this potion could cause an accident."

"I just don't want to make a mistake," Mildred whispered.

Selina wanted to murder Hardbroom. It had taken weeks of work for Mildred to make potions that were better quality than what she had presumably made at Cackles, to show her that she didn't need to rush her work. Mildred was the slow potions brewer, it was a time honoured technique and one Selina and Alice had learnt to encourage.

"You won't, Mildred," Selina replied, "listen, I will make sure she avoids your part of the classroom. Just ignore her and forget that she's here, okay?"

"I'll do my best," Mildred promised, "thanks, miss."

Selina smiled, running a list of possible things she could say to Pippa about potions classes. Hecate Hardbroom hadn't just jumped down Mildred's throat, she had also jumped down the throats of some of the boys. "You're welcome, Mildred, just remember what I said and take it slowly," Selina whispered before she stood up and moved off.

Miss Rainstorm was true to her word. She managed to keep Miss Hardbroom away from the Pentangle's students and she stayed away from the Cackle's students, leading to the first cracks in what had been something the Cackle girls had been happy with. Sometimes potions was complex even for the girls who were actually better at them than most, and HB was not really approachable.

Miss Rainstorm was. She was kind-hearted, level-headed and patient. She understood the risks behind potions like all potion experts, but unlike Miss Hardbroom she believed that communicating with one another was an integral part to understanding how something worked - if someone knew how something worked, they should tell others instead of keeping silent. Unfortunately, Miss Hardbroom was at the opposite end of that equation, and she barely communicated her knowledge to her students.

When it came to finishing the potions, Miss Rainstorm ordered the students - boys and girls - to gently pour their finished potions into a labelled bottle which would then be tested and marked, with the final score given at their next lesson before she dismissed the class. Once the last student left the classroom, Selina looked grimly at Miss Hardbroom.

"Miss Hardbroom, you and I need to have a word," she said clearly. This wasn't going to be a nice conversation, but it might be enough.

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Feedback is welcome.


	16. Chapter 16 Avalanche of Bad Feelings

To everyone who has reviewed my story, thanks (even if the language of one of the reviews was questionable), and I hope that chapter satisfies you until next time.

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Avalanche of bad feelings.

Miss Hardbroom looked down her nose at Miss Rainstorm.

"What seems to be the problem, Miss Rainstorm?" Hecate drawled the words out. She had a good idea why the Pentangles potions teacher wanted to speak to her, but she would stand her ground.

"You. You are the problem," Selina replied, refusing to back down. "Ever since we began sharing our classes together, you have been near abusive towards the boys in this class. I don't know what your problem with them is, but you know what, I couldn't care less. You are supposed to be a teacher, start acting like one."

"I am not used to teaching boys-," Hecate tried to explain in reasonable terms. She was doing her level best to avoid the urge to turn this woman into a toad for her argument, that was not professional behaviour, and if Hecate was one thing it was a professional witch. Unfortunately, when she got to the word boys, she was unable to keep the contempt and the loathing out of her voice, and Selina picked up on it instantly.

She shook her head, her dark features twisting in anger. "Miss Hardbroom, Pippa put us in charge of potions, which means we have to co-teach the subject, but I'm starting to think we're going about it the wrong way; you have been too harsh with some of my students, you have treated the boys in my class as though they have dragon pox, and after what I saw with Mildred you don't seem to learn from your mistakes."

"What mistakes?"

"Did it never occur to you Mildred might respond better if you are patient with her?" Selina asked mildly, trying to not raise her voice because she didn't want this woman to believe she was immature. Selina was a professional teacher herself, but she had other ways of teaching her students than Hecate Hardbroom. "She didn't grow up in our world, she never learnt of our existence until a matter of months ago, she has no idea what our traditions and our practices entail, but you seem fixated on punishing her and the other students who don't come from witch or wizard families just for being here. You are teaching her in the manner of a witch without taking into account she didn't know how potions work. This is not Cackles, Miss Hardbroom, this is a different school. Yeah, Mildred has caused her fair share of accidents in this very lab when she first arrived, but Alice and I have worked hard with her to try to get better. We learnt that Mildred finds it easier to learn potions if she isn't rushed. That's not a crime, Miss Hardbroom."

"Every potions teacher has standards to uphold-," Hecate said, but Miss Rainstorm was beginning to lose her temper. "Don't give me that! You're being hard on her because you can."

Selina took a deep breath. "I'm going to make a compromise, how about you leave me to teach the girls and boys from non-magical families, and boys in general, while you teach those from magical families?"

Miss Hardbroom was surprised by the compromise she was getting. "Why would you even suggest that?"

"I didn't want to, but I don't want my students to be harmed," Selina said solemnly. She had been tempted, so tempted to just tell the woman she wanted to split her classes so then she could teach the Pentangles students only, leaving the Cackle's students to Miss Hardbroom.

She didn't want to do that. Not only would it increase the tension in the school between Cackles and Pentangles, but it would not help Pippa with her plans to merge the schools together. Pippa had not exactly spoken of her plans for the future, but all of the faculty in Pentangles knew only too well how ambitious their headmistress was, but they all knew the plan only depended on whether or not that universal cheapskate Mrs Hallow actually gave up the funds to rebuild Cackle's castle and reopen the other school. There was no telling how long Cackles would be like this, and there was no telling how long their students would be in Pentangles.

Selina folded her arms. "What do you think, Miss Hardbroom?" she asked, hoping that the teacher accepted the offer, the alternative was too horrible to contemplate, she didn't want to turn Pentangles into a war-zone.

Miss Hardbroom bit her lip. She didn't want any problems between herself and this woman and the other teacher who taught the potions basics classes (what in the name of Magic inspired Pippa to install that class, she didn't know but she could see the benefits), and if anything did happen between them it would cause problems for not just her and the girls, but Ada as well, and the poor woman had suffered enough.

"I don't want to make things difficult," she said, "I want Cackles and Pentangles to get along, believe me. I know only one tune to follow, Miss Rainstorm, and that is teaching girls from magical families."

"You've got to compromise at some point; you spent weeks teaching a single girl from a non-magical family, why can't you do it again? I'm not suggesting you do it right, now," Selina Rainstorm said, "but spend a couple of days, or weeks if you want, getting to know the Pentangles students. Mildred and the other kids from the non-magical families may not have grown up with magic, but they are still gifted. Give them, and the boys, a chance."

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"What?!"

Mildred winced at the volume of her mother's voice, and she felt a twinge of deja vu at the sound of her mother's voice. She had finally managed to get a moment to herself so then she could speak to her mother.

The conversation before she had told her about the whole of Cackles being at Pentangles had been conventional in itself; Mildred had learnt that her mother had helped deliver seven babies, or was it nine? In return Mildred gave an account of how things were going at Pentangles, hoping to get her mother in a suitable position so she could deliver the news.

Needless to say, she had not taken it well.

"Mum, Cackles was burnt down," Mildred repeated in a whisper; she didn't have the mental energy to deal with a full-blown argument, and she knew one was coming because she hadn't gotten to the worst part of the story. Yet. "Pentangles is the closest magical school to Cackles, and the Great Wizard in his infinite wisdom asked Miss Pentangle to take them in."

Julie ran a hand through her messy hair. She had heard of the Great Wizard before, and she knew Mildred didn't exactly care for him that much.

"How are you coping?"

Mildred took a deep breath. "It's a little bit weird," she admitted, "I mean I had thought I'd have a bit of peace and quiet after my transfer, now I have them in my lessons. The good news is I've grown by leaps and bounds, so there is that."

"Have you shown 'em what you can do with enchanting, Millie?" Julie asked; she didn't really understand enchanting, but she was amazed by what her child could do with drawings.

"No, not yet. I want that to be a surprise; apparently, a few of the magic council, including the Head of Education herself is coming to Pentangles to see what I can do," Mildred replied with a smirk, "I'm not looking forward to that."

"Why not, I thought you'd be happy to show 'em you belong at Pentangles?" Julie was quizzical.

"I would if I didn't know who the Head of Education was," Mildred said, "her name is Ursula Hallow. She's Ethel Hallow's mother."

Recognition dawned on Julie's face. "Ethel's the one who bullied you, right?"

There was no point in denying it, but Mildred wondered what Julie would do when she learnt that not only was Ethel back in her life but they were sharing rooms. "The same," she admitted, "I've heard some things about her, and what they've implied about Ethel's home life makes me think its no wonder Ethel's the way she is."

Julie frowned. "What do you mean?'

"Do you remember when you received the Witches Code from Miss Cackle?" At Julie's nod, Mildred explained, "I did some studying of it when my tutor, who was also from a non-magical family herself, studied it to make herself better, and she encourages everyone else from the same background to do the same thing. Under the code, the eldest child is the one who inherits the family legacy. It's one of the reasons why magical parents only have one single kid, but in the case of the Hallows, it means Ethel, who likes being seen as smart and cleverer than everyone else, is relegated to the sidelines because she's the middle child. I don't know how she copes at home, but at school, she used me as a convenient punching bag to let go of her frustration - oh she didn't do anything physical or magical to me, it was more verbal abuse."

Julie shook her head, and Mildred wished she had told her mother about the fact she was now sharing her room with Ethel much earlier instead of deciding to tell her at the last minute. "Is she giving you any problems?" Julie asked curiously.

"It's early days," Mildred replied. "We've got different lessons scheduled, so I don't see her that much here compared to Cackles. There is only one problem….."

Julie looked at her daughter, suddenly nervous now she could see for herself Mildred was deliberately holding something back. And then it struck her that something else was going on. "What?" she asked, wondering if she even wanted to know.

Mildred swallowed. "Promise me you won't overreact?"

"Mildred!" Julie chided, wanting her daughter to get to the point before she sighed when she saw Mildred's pointed look. "Okay, I promise I won't overreact, I promise I won't bang my head on the fridge, just tell me what is wrong."

Mildred sighed. "I'm sharing a room with Maud, Enid, and Ethel," she said.

Julie went goggle eyes at her. "You're sharing a room with the girls you were friends with and dumped you when that star globe went missing? And you are sharing a room with the girl who bullied you-?"

Mildred sighed again when put like that it made sense that her mother would think she had gone mad. "Yes, but they had nowhere else to go, and besides I wanted to do my bit. I wanted to appear to be the grown up in this case, mum; I know if the situations were reversed Ethel would NEVER have let me anywhere near HER room. But I'm not like her, I wanted to show them I was willing to treat this whole mess as a clean slate. I haven't seen them in person for two months, I've changed a great deal."

"I know you have, luv, but do they know that?'

"No," Mildred admitted.

"Why not?"

"I think it's 'cause I haven't got that many lessons with them, but they saw how well I did in enchanting. There's a chance they'll find out," Mildred said, crossing her fingers out of sight of her mother's sight, "and there's a chance they'll see I belong."

Julie looked at her daughter with pity. She had needed to comfort Mildred more than once because everyone else who knew about magic knew better than she did, and it had always caused her nothing but grief. But that was at Cackles. At Pentangles things were different because Pippa Pentangle had gone out of her way to make sure some of her students from non-magical families were taught the basics. Mildred had worked very hard to improve at Pentangles, and Julie only hoped the likes of Ethel Hallow didn't bring it all down.

"How are Maud and Enid, anyway?" she asked to change the subject.

Mildred was a little bit surprised by the question, sensing that her mother was trying to change the subject. "They were pretty shaken by what had happened to the school, but they seem okay. They were mixing with my new friends at Pentangles, and they seemed surprised when I met….. Merlin in the corridor," she trailed off with a blush.

Julie Hubble had heard of this Merlin Langstaff, a boy Mildred had met. She knew just by looking at her daughter Mildred had a crush on him, but Julie wondered if it would even work out since Mildred didn't have enough experience of the magical world, and so didn't know if the cultural differences would drive a wedge between Mildred and Merlin. Julie herself had had enough bad experiences with boyfriends even if some of them had ended amicably instead of bitterly, and she didn't want Mildred to go through the same thing.

"Why?"

"Because of the fact I was close to him," Mildred replied, not planning on telling her mother about the fact she had kissed Merlin on the cheek.

Julie was about to say something else but then the door to the bedroom opened and Maud and Enid came in, chatting to one another.

"Hello, you two," Julie's icy voice interrupted them, and Mildred winced. This was not going to be nice and judging from the way Enid and Maud flinched at the sound of her mother's voice, it was clear they realised that as well.

"Hello, Miss Hubble," Maud whispered, hoping that the greeting placated Julie a little.

"I hear you're sharing Mildred's room now, but do you two know how much her heart was broken when everyone including you two turned on her?" Julie said.

Enid and Maud looked at each other in shame. They both wished Julie would just shout at them, but this was much worse because she never raised her voice. Just even once. That was made it worse. They had both tortured themselves to death wishing they could go back in time and make sure Mildred had never even found that globe, but they couldn't. Maud and Enid had been on the receiving end of their parent's ire more than once over the years. Their methods varied. Maud's parents preferred the stern yet disappointed looks and words. They rarely needed to shout at her, but they only did that if they thought she was especially naughty.

Enid's parents had long since stopped shouting at their daughter simply because they had learnt that nothing they really did make much difference in the long term, and in any case Enid was always acting up at the best of times and so the two Nightshades had come to the realisation there wasn't an awful lot they could do about it.

But whenever they did find the time to get angry with her when they weren't on tour, Enid was sometimes subjected to stern lectures. They didn't really affect Enid that much.

But standing in Mildred's bedroom with Julie Hubble, with her icy demeanour, it did hurt them. Maud and Enid both liked Julie and they didn't like the thought of her not liking them because they'd become as close as sisters to Mildred only for that to be torn down.

Maud finally opened her mouth. She was getting tired of the constant reminders of what she and the others had done, but while she understood where Julie was coming from she was tired of being reminded of what had happened. "I'm sorry," she said; being rude to Julie wasn't going to help, and besides she didn't want to be kicked out.

Enid realised where Maud was heading with this. "I am as well. When that globe's spells affected us, it was like someone was speaking through us."

"We knew deep down Mildred hadn't stolen it," Maud added, "but….. even if something like that is in a drawer, the spells on them are still strong enough to mess with the mind."

Julie had been listening to this silently. "Alright, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, this time. But don't hurt Mildred ever again, got it?!"

Maud and Enid nodded frantically.

Julie turned her cold eyes to Mildred and they became warmer. "See you later, wonder kid."

Mildred snorted at the nickname. "Bye mum," she smiled.

When the connection was cut off, Mildred put the card away in a drawer and sat down on the bed, stroking Tabby who was sprawled lazily on the covers. "Sorry about that," Mildred said.

Maud was tempted to say something to Mildred, but she didn't want to. Mildred and her mother had every right to be bitter and angry about what had happened at Cackles. But she had the impression that for Mildred it was all in the past and she wanted to keep it that way.

"She's really upset," Maud said instead, feeling ashamed for what she and everyone had done to Mildred in a moment of madness.

Mildred nodded, not trusting herself to speak. "We both were. I've more or less gotten over what happened with the globe, and I'm keen to turn over a new leaf."

Enid was happy to hear that but she just wished everyone would stop reminding them about what they'd done.

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In the headmistress's office, Ada Cackle was reading a letter and pacing up and down the office. She had at least three letters in her hands, and she was busy reading one at a time. The letter was from the Magical Fire and Accidents office and reported the general situation at Cackles Academy, and it described that the fire which had virtually destroyed her beloved school had been put out and the investigators had gone through the castle to try and track down the source.

The fire had been started in the lower levels, in some of the ancient dungeons of the castle just like it had been originally suggested. The fact it was started in the lower levels gave Ada some hope despite what had happened to the castle; this type of fire spell grew out of control too rapidly, and if it had been started in the higher levels of the school like in the entrance hall, the library, the potions lab, or heaven's forbid in one of the bedrooms, the spell would get out of hand too quickly without anyone being able to hold it in check.

But the fact someone had set it off in the dungeons meant whoever had done it had wanted to get the girls out of the school, but whoever had done it was still dangerous.

Ada sighed as she examined the letter in her hand before she turned to the second letter. It was from the Magic Council. She knew from experience that Mrs Hallow was very….. unwelcome to the idea of releasing funds to the repair of a school. To Mrs Hallow, a school was just a building to shove children into like a jar of potions ingredients and force them to learn magic, nothing more than that, but Cackles was more than that.

Thinking about what had happened to her school nearly made her cry, but she somehow managed to get hold of her emotions. Cackles Academy was more than just a school, it was her home, it was the home to her family and contained centuries of history….. all of it gone because of a pyromaniac.

Mrs Hallow's letter wasn't enlightening. She hadn't written anything about promising to find the funds to repair the school. Not for the first time, Miss Cackle wished the woman's predecessor was still in office and hadn't been replaced by Mrs Hallow. Mrs Hallow's letter was formal and to the point - for the time being, she, her staff and her students would have to remain at Pentangles and wait for the appropriate funds, if it would even happen, to be released.

Ada knew she could broach the subject with the Great Wizard, but she knew it was a waste of time. The Great Wizard didn't like it whenever someone went over the various heads of departments in the council, and she didn't want to get involved with something like that.

She was about to read the next letter when Hecate entered the room. "Hello, Hecate," Ada whispered, not really in the mood to speak too loudly. The mail had taken a great deal out of her.

Hecate nodded at the mail. "What are they saying?"

Ada sighed. "The fire was started in the lower levels, in one of the dungeons. They found stronger traces of residue, and even the remains of a cauldron down there. There were traces of the ingredients used in the fire spell in it."

Hecate wasn't surprised by the mention of the cauldron managing to survive better even if it sounded like it had been destroyed in the inferno. Cauldrons were magically created to be strong enough to withstand damage but there was only so much they could take before they were ruined or destroyed.

"Was there any sign of whoever did it?"

"No. But reading that part gave me hope," Ada admitted.

Whatever Hecate was expecting her to say it was not that. "Why do you say that?"

"Reading in black and white how the school was burnt down and the fire was started from a dungeon far from any student, it sounds like whoever started it didn't want to hurt the girls."

"Yes, that's true," Hecate realised, "the fire may have started in the dungeons, but we managed to get the girls out of the school in time before the fire got out of hand."

"Yes. But I would still like to know why someone would do that," Ada shook her head. "I've heard of schools having stink potions set off, but I know this wasn't the work of a student. The idea of an outsider coming in to destroy the castle…..," she kept shaking her head.

Hecate looked at her with pity. She knew how much this was hurting Ada, she…well, they both loved the castle so much, but now they had no idea whether or not the pyromaniac was acting alone or had some plan in mind, though why someone would want to burn a castle full of children to the ground was beyond her.

"What do the other letters say?" she asked.

Hecate hoped that the change in topic would stop them both going around and around in a loop. It seemed to perk Ada up a little bit. "One of the letters is from the council," she said, "it basically says the council promises to look for the ones responsible for burning the school down."

"Yes, I've heard that Morgana herself will be arriving at the council on a golden broomstick," Hecate said sarcastically, wincing internally at Ada's reaction. "Face it, Ada. They don't have a chance; just because they found the remains of a cauldron doesn't mean they have a hope in Vanishment of finding out who set it off in the first place."

Ada knew Hecate was right, but she needed hope. It was all she had left.

"What else does the letter say?"

"Nothing that gives me a lot of hope, I'm afraid. Mrs Hallow says she's making inquiries into finding funds to rebuild the school, but I don't know what will happen in the future."

Hecate folded her arms thoughtfully. "We all know Mrs Hallow isn't the easiest person to get funds from," she said. "We should have expected that, but with everything that's happened, it never occurred to us."

"True. It's the third letter that gives me more hope. It's from the Great Wizard himself, he says in it he will try to find a solution for all of us."

Hecate nodded, but she didn't say anything.

Ada sighed. The problem with Hecate was she kept some of her feelings buried within herself, but she wasn't in the mood to talk much now.

"How are the girls settling into their lessons?" Ada asked as she sat comfortably in one of the armchairs in the office.

For the next half an hour Hecate regaled Ada with a general report of how the girls were doing. It was not in Hecate's nature to lie or exaggerate things out of all proportion, so she told Ada about the compromise between herself and Miss Rainstorm.

Ada mentally rolled her eyes, wondering why Hecate was so inflexible. "Hecate, you knew we would be in a coed school. Why couldn't you be more flexible?"

"You know I only dance to one tune, Ada," Hecate replied. "I am unsure if I can dance to anything different."

"You'll have to dance to a different tune, Hecate," Ada said grimly, "we all will. I don't know for sure if Mrs Hallow will release the funds needed to rebuild Cackles. You know what that woman is like."

"Only too well," Pippa Pentangle's voice echoed before the Pentangle's headmistress appeared in her office. "That woman is a cheapskate."

Ada didn't like the intrusion but she had no right to tell Pippa to leave since this was her office. "You've had experiences with her before?"

"Yes. Pentangles offers a myriad of courses and opportunities, but one of the things I wanted for my school were opportunities to show my student's various magical sites and even meet a few of the older covens. The amount of knowledge would make such things worthwhile, but for trips to dragon preserves and other places abroad, she always raises a crow about the expense even if it's not very much," Pippa explained.

Hecate was silent, her mind going over the benefits of such a trip to a dragon preserve or to a coven. Though covens had existed for witches for centuries, the general tradition for creating them was fading over the years, but the older covens were either still in existence with new members taking the places of the older generation or they had simply disbanded.

Covens were great places for witches to study, and many of the older covens had great libraries full of magical knowledge. Hecate had heard of those covens over the years, and she had always wanted to visit one to meet the members, and perhaps even learn something from them though the code made it very clear covens did not share their knowledge with anyone but members. It was a strict part of the code, but a visit to such a coven could inspire witches to form covens of their own and keep the tradition going.

Hecate couldn't understand why Mrs Hallow was so reluctant to allow Pippa to take her students to visit some of them, and she was unable to hide her curiosity. "Why is she reluctant to let you visit the covens?"

Pippa noted that Hecate left the part of the dragon preserves out of the question, but she ignored it for the time being. "I don't know," she replied honestly, "but I don't care. I have decided to invite a very old coven to Pentangles to visit the students and tell them what a coven is from their perspective rather than what witches already know. It's just such a shame; a visit to a really old coven would go a long way to opening student's eyes to the wonders of magic."

Hecate eyed Pippa shrewdly. She had always imagined Pippa was the type of witch who wanted the magical world to move onwards and forget its ancient traditions. "I always thought you wanted to move onwards with magic," she said, unable to hold back her snark.

"Hecate!" Ada hissed.

"No, Miss Cackle, it's alright," Pippa interrupted before looking at her old friend. "I joined a coven about three years after we graduated. I joined because my mother insisted. She told me it would give me perspective about the olde ways of magic, at first I didn't want to do it, but she told me I would make new friends," she paused and lifted a brow when she saw Hecate roll her eyes before she ignored that little facet, "so I agreed. I learnt a great deal from that coven. I agree with many people who say magic should move on in order to survive, but I do believe covens should remain since they are an integral part of witchcraft, like broomsticks and potions are."

Pippa smiled at the two and decided to change the subject. "I heard about what happened in potions, Hecate," she said, "I know things will be difficult for you since many of our students are either from different backgrounds, or they are boys. Please, try to work with them."

Hecate looked at both headmistresses and realised she would have no alternative. But Pippa had another surprise. "Also, keep an eye on Mildred Hubble; she has changed, a great deal. She is very talented in enchanting, very talented."

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While it was still early days at Pentangles with the potential merger, there were mixed feelings between the students and teachers of the two schools.

News of the fire had been leaked to the school, so everyone knew the suspicions about it were confirmed - it had been set off in the dungeons, whoever had done it had set it in a place where no-one would get seriously hurt but the castle was now seriously gutted.

But that news did little to bring the students of the two schools together.

During mealtimes, many of the Cackles students went out of their way to go over to the other Pentangles students, either because they were roommates or they had become more friendly and open with each other during lessons. The Pentangles teachers went out of their way to encourage teamwork during the lessons.

Pippa had made it abundantly clear there was a chance Mrs Hallow would make sure the potential funds needed to rebuild Cackles would never be released now, but maybe in the future, so there was a chance the two schools could be together for a very long time. Pippa had asked Ada to disclose what was in the letters, and the older headmistress had done so. None of the Pentangles teachers was surprised; they knew how much Pippa disliked and sometimes came back from meetings with the Magic Council absolutely frustrated and annoyed by Mrs Hallow's inability to see they wanted money to drive magic forwards a bit further.

But that didn't stop the rivalries between the two schools. While many of the rivalries were held between the students, there were also points of contention during lessons. Hecate Hardbroom had managed to teach potions to girls and boys alike, always under the eye of Miss Rainstorm, but you could see the reluctance whenever she did so, and quite a few of the boys always felt as if they couldn't do enough.

Chanting was also a problem since Pentangle's method of chanting was extremely different from the type taught at Cackles, so Miss Bat had problems in that class, and more than once she had told Ada and Hecate later that she didn't know why she bothered since the two methods were different. In the end, Pippa had decided to set up a new chanting class where the older method was taught, just to keep Miss Bat happy. It caused a lot of frustration within the school.

For the teachers who didn't have an opposite number in Cackles, it wasn't so bad since they didn't have a teacher telling them they were teaching their classes wrong, or they didn't like the direction their methods were going, but that didn't mean they were having an easy time with the students in the school. Quite a few of the Cackles students, particularly the older ones, didn't like the fact they had to learn some of the things taught at Pentangles from scratch, and some of them definitely didn't see the point in some of their lessons. But some of the Cackles' students approached the classes with an open mind, and some of them began making strides in Ancient Runes and subjects like that, and more than a few of them approached the Magical Zoology class with gusto since creatures like Unicorns were being brought into the classes to spark the interest of the Cackle's students.

In lessons like Magical Defence, the Sensei showed he didn't care if they liked his classes or not, and he did not tolerate absenteeism. Unfortunately, it was a first-year class.

The Sensei had just finished the Pentangle register and had moved onto the Cackle's register so then he could put names to faces. Unfortunately, a few of the names were missing.

"Where is Maud Spellbody, Felicity Foxglove, and Enid Nightshade?" he asked.

Mildred heard the names and she pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation. She had told Maud and Enid not to play games with the Sensei, but she wasn't going to say anything about it.

The Sensei's glare deepened as his displeasure became more known. He waved his hand, and the three girls appeared in the class. All three of them were dressed in the tunics they would need to participate.

"What-?" Maud squeaked as she looked around the room, and her eyes met Mildred who looked back at her with pity.

But the Sensei stepped forwards. "Never try to bunk my class. Ever! I don't care what you were able to get away with at Cackles. In my class, if you try to play pranks during this lessons time, you will be punished. Severely. I am not a teacher who punishes students with lines, detentions. I have better ways. All three of you will be the demonstrations in this class."

By the end of the lesson, the three Cackles students left the room with a deep fear of the Sensei who had made them demonstrate their ideas of magical defence to him and to the entire class. Miss Hardbroom had tried speaking to the Sensei to curb his methods of punishment, but he had shut her up pretty quickly. The confrontation between the Sensei and Miss Hardbroom became legendary.

"Your students tried my patience by refusing to attend my lessons. I will continue to transport them to my classroom until they accept the fact Magical Defence is not a class to shirk. I do not care for your approach of punishment - lines and detentions do nothing in the long term. I do not care for your opinions, I neither asked for them nor do I want them," the Sensei had said coldly to Miss Hardbroom.

Other teachers had problems with their new students as well. Ethel Hallow didn't see the point to the technomancy, but her new teachers in that class didn't care about her opinion either. Miranda was at her wit's end with the girl one day so she decided to ask the only person she knew who was an expert on her.

She learnt from Mildred Hubble that Ethel had problems at home being the middle child, so Miranda decided to speak to Ethel about it. She admitted to Ethel she herself was a middle child, and she had hated it growing up but then she had learnt about Technomancy, and she started experimenting in that field to earn her parent's respect. Only it had not worked. Her parents had still seen her as second best, but in time she had decided to turn her back on her parents and she had not looked back since. Her work with Technomancy had opened her eyes to new possibilities, and she had written dozens of articles and papers about it over the years, and she had educated other witches and wizards so then they understood the magic and found something special to do.

Unfortunately, Miranda didn't expect Ethel to take everything she had said onboard. The girl was stubborn and she reminded Miranda of how she herself had been as a kid, but she hoped that by showing Ethel a new form of magic she might develop new skills her parents had not expected her to develop and grow beyond them.

And then there was Beatrice Black.

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Ethel cursed as once more the grating sound of Beatrice Black's obnoxious voice broke out over the class. "Of course I can brew this potion, I'm the best of potions there is!"

Ethel shared a look with some of the other Cackle's girls in Potions, and she caught sight of some of the Pentangles students sending looks of anger and annoyance towards Beatrice. Miss Hardbroom also looked at the girl with distaste. "Beatrice Black," the potions mistress said in a dark whisper, "if you want to put that boast to the test, I suggest you brew your -."

Unwisely Beatrice spoke over Miss Hardbroom, and all the students - Cackles and Pentangles - drew in a sharp breath. They knew Beatrice's fate was now sealed. But the girl went back to brewing her potions - badly while Miss Hardbroom looked on, shaking with anger. It took a moment for Hecate to regain her composure, she was so astonished someone had spoken over her and ignored what she was saying because she had quickly ensured no one at Cackles played games in her class when she had taken over the potions position.

But when she did it was too late. Miss Rainstorm shouted, "Beatrice, don't put that in the cauldron!"

The potion reacted badly, the mixture bubbled and released a sound like a burp from a giant. Miss Hardbroom and Miss Rainstorm quickly lifted their hands and cast a spell to contain the explosion. The cauldron exploded spilling a thick bubbling liquid everywhere.

"You stupid girl!" Selina snarled at Beatrice, who was whimpering as some of the liquid touched her skin. "You were told to concentrate and work on your potion and pay attention for the first time in your life!"

Hecate felt guilty - not because she didn't feel anything for the girl, but because she had been so stunned by Beatrice's actions she had not seen what Beatrice was doing.

Selina sent her a look, but she didn't have any anger in her gaze whatsoever - she had seen more than Hecate realised before she waved her hand at Beatrice. She had to get the stupid little girl out of her sight. Now. She was just so tired of the girl making stupid mistakes in her classes. At least everyone else wanted to learn.

Miss Hardbroom was about to wave her hand to get rid of the remains of Beatrice's potion, but Selina stopped her. "Everyone, stop what you are doing and take a look," she said, and she waited for everyone to gather around.

Selina sighed. She didn't like doing this, but she sometimes did to show the mistakes of others to stop them being repeated. "Beatrice Black has ruined this potion by putting in an ingredient too late. Because of that mistake, she has received a potion injury. I don't need to tell you how dangerous a potions injury is. I don't blame Miss Hardbroom for this; she was surprised by Beatrice's stupidity. Thank you, now get back to your cauldrons please and finish your potions."

Once the students had left her and Hecate, Selina sighed and led Hecate to the back.

"I'm sorry for that," Hecate apologised, but Selina shook her head. "Don't worry about it. Everybody else gets to their wit's end because of her. She's the worst witch in this school."

Hecate looked at her sharply, wondering if Selina had chosen those words as a kind of taunt for what she and Ethel used to call Mildred Hubble. Selina looked at her with a nod, confirming her suspicions.

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Beatrice Black continued to cause problems for the teachers, and by the end of it, Pippa finally decided enough was enough. That was probably a good move on her part because Hecate Hardbroom learnt from her fellow colleagues and even a few of the Cackle's students at Pentangles that Beatrice simply didn't know much about magic at all. For some reason, Beatrice had been keeping her head down for a while, but with Cackles, at Pentangles she went back to her old bad habits, and she was causing problems for the students. Even Selina Rainstorm's banning her from the potions lab didn't stop her from creating a potion in there after breaking in. She let it off for a laugh in the hall, thinking that it was a stink potion. Instead, when she set it off in the hall, it blew up under a table, but it didn't have enough force under the table to cause really serious injuries, but everything on the table flew everywhere and the students had to avoid getting hit by the debris.

Worse was the amount of cutlery, they had to avoid knives, forks, and spoons which had been launched into the air like rockets.

The entire school learnt Beatrice Black had finally been expelled from Pentangles.

No-one was sorry to see her go.


	17. Chapter 17 Dawn

Disclaimer - I don't think I need to say it, do I? I don't own anything of the Worst Witch.

We are nearing the end of the story, and I've enjoyed writing it for you. In this chapter, things begin to really kick off... and a very unexpected character makes her appearance...

Enjoy!

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Dawn.

As she walked down the corridor, Mildred wondered what was going to happen with Cackles now. The students and teachers had been at Pentangles for a few weeks now. With Beatrice gone, things had more or less calmed down, there were still a few arguments and fights between the two schools. The teachers on both sides had managed to mitigate the worst of the fighting, but the fact it was even happening was worrying, but overall some of the Pentangles students were still making headway into making friendships with the Cackle's students, so there was hope that if the two schools really did merge together, it would be amicable.

But there were still fights between the two, why couldn't everyone from Cackles get along with everyone from Pentangles? Granted, her own school weren't making things easy; some of the older kids had shown how petty and arrogant they could be, but that was true on both sides. Some of the Cackles girls had found boyfriends in some of the boys, so that had helped somewhat.

Mildred remembered how things had been for her when she had arrived at Pentangles; everyone had been so nice to her even in spite of her non-magical background, but that didn't mean it was blissful for her. She had still been reeling from what had happened with Maud and Enid, so it had been hard for her to make friends again so quickly. But she had made friends with the kids from the non-magical families (she had quickly learnt that while they were becoming more and more common, and had been around for a good few centuries, non-magical kids faced a few questions; how had they gained their powers, among other things), and thanks to Zac and Sapphire she had made other friends, particularly Merlin Langstaff.

Mildred quickly had to shake her head to clear her mind of Merlin. She understood her mother's concerns where Merlin was concerned, and she shared them as well. What if Merlin dropped her because she didn't come from the world he was born into? What if his parents pressured him into leaving her? What if he was only nice to her, giving her a few kisses and spending time with her out of a sort of pity?

She shook her head quickly, hoping that that scenario never happened, and continued on her way when she met Miss Pentangle. Mildred smiled at the headmistress. "Hello, Miss Pentangle."

Miss Pentangle swung around with a gasp. "Mildred, you startled me," she said, putting a hand on her heart.

"Sorry," Mildred apologised sheepishly. "How's it going?"

Pippa realised Mildred was just looking for someone to talk about, not that she could blame her since it was getting late. It would soon be curfew and the kids would need to get to their rooms. Pippa wondered how Mildred was coping with three other girls sharing her room, and she hoped nothing bad happened there like it had done at Cackles.

"Not bad," she said, deciding not to talk about the fights that had been going on in her school but Mildred probably knew about them. "Oh, by the way, Mrs Hallow and the Great Wizard and some of the council are coming tomorrow morning."

This was news to Mildred. "Seriously? I mean, I knew Mrs Hallow was coming with a few others, but why the Great Wizard?"

"He wants to know how things are going between us and Cackles," Pippa replied; she wouldn't be saying this to any other student, but since Mrs Hallow was coming tomorrow to see Mildred and her work with enchanting, it was relevant to the girl, and besides she didn't see the harm in not answering some of Mildred's questions. "And to also let us know of any news about what happened to the castle," she added.

Mildred shuddered at the thought of the fire that burnt down Cackles; she hadn't seen the fire when it had gone through the school, but between the details leaked out from the reports Miss Cackle had received not long ago, and the vivid descriptions she had gotten when she and some of the other kids had asked about it from the students who'd witnessed it firsthand, Mildred knew that if Cackles was going to be rebuilt it would not be the same.

"Do you think it will be rebuilt, Cackles, I mean?" Mildred asked.

Pippa shrugged. "I don't know," she replied honestly, "it might happen, but then again it might not. Mrs Hallow is not known for her…..," Pippa paused as she tried to find the right word, but ended up with, "shall we say, generosity?"

Mildred felt a little bit wary about speaking of a woman who had the future of enchanting in her hands badly behind her back, but she didn't know the woman that well on a personal level to form a judgement. The only thing she knew about the woman as she was very standoffish and had pushed her own daughters away.

It was because of her that Ethel had become so closed off and unwilling to see that she could make something of herself even with the Witches' code hanging over her shoulders.

"Speaking of Mrs Hallow, what should I say to her when she arrives?" Mildred asked; she didn't want to think anymore about the prospects of Cackle's no longer opening because of someone's mad plan to burn it down.

"Just greet her and show your work," Pippa replied, "answer any question she gives you, but try to keep your answers to the point; Mrs Hallow's not afraid to put down people she considers to be time wasters."

Mildred was a little bit affronted by that, but she felt Miss Pentangle had a good point. She had a bad habit of babbling when she was nervous, and even now she was more confident being here at Pentangles, where she had discovered a magical talent, one that was bigger than either she or Miss Bluebell or Miss Miller had imagined, it still remained. But she imagined that even with all her new self-confidence, she was still going to be nervous at times.

Pippa saw the emotions play out across Mildred's face, and she shook her head. "Millie, you've got nothing to worry about. Myself and Lexi will be there for you, no matter what. Just be yourself, and just show what you can do for them to see."

"Will anyone else be there?" Mildred asked suddenly, getting the impression Miss Cackle and Miss Hardbroom would be there.

Pippa was a bit surprised by the unexpected question. "Who did you have in mind?"

"Miss Cackle and Miss Hardbroom."

Pippa suddenly understood. "Do you want them there?"

She knew that Mildred was going out of her way to avoid the two witches, but to actually want them anywhere near something like that was surprising to Pippa, though she could see the probable reasons for it.

Mildred didn't answer the question right away. Instead, she conjured a memory inside her head, and she used it to ask her next question. "Do you remember the Spelling Bee when I made that Weather spell right?"

Pippa nodded. "I do."

She was so proud of Mildred because unlike with Ada and Hecate, who would have stressed Mildred out until she made a mistake that they could wash their hands off and absolve themselves of all blame, she had just encouraged Mildred to do her best. Sometimes that was the better teacher.

"Do you remember what Miss Cackle said 'who knew you had it in you?'" Mildred went on.

Pippa sighed sadly. She hadn't shown it at the time, but she had been upset that a teacher of Ada Cackle's calibre and experience would say something like that even if it was completely unintentional. Pippa knew Ada hadn't meant it to hurt Mildred, but the girl had been hurt by it. She had seen the way Mildred's expression had closed off when Ada had said that.

"You don't want her there, do you?" Pippa asked slightly unsure, she was getting the impression Mildred did want Hecate and Ada there so then she could show them she was capable of being a witch.

"I don't know," Mildred replied, but Pippa had spotted the feelings dance over Mildred's face; it was really easy to tell what Mildred was thinking when you looked at her face deeply. "I want them both to see that I am talented. When I was there, before the globe, Miss Cackle always told me to do my best, but sometimes I wondered if I would ever please her."

Pippa closed her eyes and shook her head, once more wondering whether or not Hecate and Ada even knew what they were doing to this kid when she'd been at Cackles. "I doubt they said those things to hurt you deliberately, Millie," she said in a manner that told the girl she wasn't defending them. "You have to bear in mind that they are used to teaching girls from witching families, so they probably expected you to try to be like them and get the knowledge of how to act like them."

Mildred shook her head. "That only works if they had any intention of teaching me how to do magic, give me the lessons like what you did in my bedroom. You gave me five minutes of your time to teach me that method, and you didn't have any problems."

"I know," Pippa said, hoping the pair of them didn't get into an argument about this. "Mildred, do you want them there anyway?"

Mildred thought about it for a moment before she nodded. "Yeah, I do."

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Pippa Pentangle wasn't the only teacher speaking to a former Cackle's girl, though technically Ethel Hallow was still a Cackle's girl though she was presently living in a different school. Miranda had asked for Ethel to come to her so they could talk.

"Hello, Ethel," Miranda began, "do you know why I asked you to come?"

Ethel shook her head. "No, Miss Silver."

Miranda sighed under her breath. "Ethel. I want to help you become a great witch. I've seen the way you work in Technomancy, and I've seen how quickly you've caught on with some of the principles even if some of your peers believe it isn't real magic."

Ethel didn't say anything. While she had certainly, outwardly, agreed with the notion non-magical technology had no place in a magical culture, she had changed her mind very quickly when she realised how fun it was to play with iPhones and laptops. The fact she was learning how to integrate them into the lives of a witch or wizard only made it more fun.

"Miss Silver, do you think in the future technomancy will become really big?"

"It is becoming big, Ethel," Miranda replied, a little bit surprised the girl was asking such a question when she had had a totally different conversation in mind for this session, "in other countries, sure, but it is becoming bigger. It's only a matter of time before witches and wizards adopt it in this country but it's still a new magical science. That's why I wanted to talk to you. If you want, I can teach you how technomancy works."

Ethel looked at the teacher suspiciously for a moment, remembering how Miss Silver had told her she was a middle daughter herself. "Are you suggesting this because you're a younger child yourself?"

Miranda nodded, unsurprised by the question. "Yeah. You can go down your own path, Ethel, make your own future. You see, when I was your age I had to watch as my parents focused their attention elsewhere. My parents ran a business, one I had little interest in when I turned thirteen. Yeah, when I was your age, I would have given anything to have the same opportunities an elder child in our world has, but after a time I realised I was wasting my time. I realised I would have to make my own future. I'm still on good terms with my parents, don't get me wrong - but I hated it whenever I was passed over. I began studying Technomancy as a distraction and I learnt it was a totally different form of magic to anything I had ever known which is why I still love it to this day, and I helped make new strides in how to make it into a larger science. I wrote articles of my findings and they were published; one of the drawbacks for people studying techno-magic is its still new status and with so many other witches and wizards who are so traditionally minded they ignore something really good when it comes their way, but I've persevered. I worked in labs in various colleges and universities, and I've witnessed techno-magic becoming bigger in our world. I couldn't have done that if I still obsessed with getting some of my parents' attention, wasting my life when I could just move on."

"I watched as several of my friends went on to form businesses with techno-magic, and they are doing fantastically, benefiting with new discoveries as they're made. I myself have made contributions to those businesses over the years, but I love it because I can teach new generations of witches and wizards, especially children from traditional families what techno-magic can offer them."

Ethel had been listening to every word that came out of Miss Silver's mouth, and she was seriously taking everything on board. Admittedly at first, she hadn't really even seen the woman as a proper witch with her dress sense, but she had quickly seen that Miss Silver was a brilliant teacher, and the subject was fascinating. Techno-magic had opened her eyes, but then again nearly every subject that she had never even heard of until she'd arrived at Pentangles, had opened her eyes to how wide magical learning was, and she found herself enjoying her classes.

But listening to Miss Silver speak to her about how she had been unhappy before she had turned her back and studied magic instead of pining for something that would never happen….. Deep down Ethel knew she would need to reach a point where she would need to just say "Enough is enough, I'm going to have to do things for myself," but she wasn't sure if she was ready to do that just yet.

Miranda could see the expressions flashing across Ethel's features. She could see that while the blonde was leaning towards doing what she herself had done, which was to grow beyond her parents' lack of expectations. It was different for her because Miranda's parents had loved her, and told her to become whatever she wanted without really having much to do with her. For Ethel, it was a different story, and Miranda genuinely didn't like the fact this girl was clearly trying to compete with her elder sister.

Miranda had found Esmerelda Hallow to be a good student, not a great one because she had never touched on techno-magic because her parents, carers, whatever, had focused on the types of subjects you'd find in a traditional witch school. Esmerelda was adapting to the change but she still had a long way to go, but Miranda knew Esmerelda was the type of witch who had been told which branches of magic to study and discard the rest.

But Ethel was different. She came from the same background where education was insular, and she had the belief that a school like Cackles taught the be all end all of magical education, but after experiencing some of the classes offered at Pentangles, she was opening her eyes to a wider world.

Miranda had gone through the same thing when she was younger.

"Is it hard to study more advanced techno-magic?" Ethel's voice broke through her thoughts.

"No, but there is still a lot of research to go into techno-magic," Miranda said.

Ethel gave a smile at the thought of finally making a success out of her life, free from her parents and their never-ending distance from her.

"How much is there?" Ethel whispered.

Miranda leaned forward. "Loads," she said simply without going into too much detail.

Ethel's bright smile told Miranda she had won.

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The Great Wizard and his entourage arrived at Pentangles at around 8.00, though the Great Wizard had little idea why Mrs Hallow was accompanying him; he had asked her if it was because she wanted to see how Cackles was doing at Pentangles. There was always a fair amount of rivalry at all magical schools, so it wouldn't really surprise him if the Pentangles and Cackles staff had had problems with the students.

But Mrs Hallow had told him it wasn't that. Apparently, there was a student here who was incredibly talented at enchanting, but Mrs Hallow had no idea what the child's name was. Personally, the Great Wizard was surprised and yet hopeful that the child would change Mrs Hallow's stance on enchanting; his grandmother had been an enchantress, and she had been capable of dozens of feats of magic that were remarkable. But her heart had been broken when she had learnt her old subject, the one she had excelled at as a little girl, was being sidelined because many witches and wizards were saying enchanting had had its time.

The Great Wizard himself believed that magic should move on, but he didn't agree with the head of magical education it should just be thrown out of all magical curriculums.

Personally, he was there to visit the school, and to see how things were going at Pentangles. He and his entourage flew into the school grounds, thankful that the magic that enabled the broomsticks to fly also cloaked their presence from the prying eyes of any non-magical person.

The moment they arrived, the Great Wizard knew something was wrong.

Pentangles was too quiet. Usually, whenever he arrived, there would be a teacher on duty to keep watch on the students and to alert the rest of the school in case of a visitor, but today there was nothing. The Great Wizard glanced at the entourage, who were assistants and members of the Magic Council. He had asked for them to come so then they could have an impromptu chat with Miss Pentangle and Miss Cackle concerning the various arrangements.

He was unsurprised to see the concern on their faces.

Something was wrong. Really wrong with Pentangles.

Mrs Hallow sniffed with disapproval. "If this is Miss Pentangles' idea of a joke-," she said, trailing off but the Great Wizard paid her little attention. Miss Pentangle did occasionally play pranks, but she wasn't stupid enough to play one with a serious delegation to her school. If a school inspector was dispatched to investigate the school, pranks would be the last thing on her mind.

The Great Wizard was about to say something, but he leapt out of the way when he suddenly saw out of the corner of his eye some dark coloured bottles suddenly smash on the ground near where the council members were standing, and great clouds of greenish grey potion was released as a gas.

The moment the fumes of the potion hit the council members they began to choke, and their eyes began to water as they felt nauseous. Furious by the unprovoked attack, the Great Wizard tried to clear the air with a wave of his hands.

Nothing happened.

What?

Alarmed, the Great Wizard tried to wave his hands to clear the potion away, hoping that his senses were trying to trick him. He hoped he was in the middle of a nightmare.

But he wasn't. The moment he tried waving his hands desperately to clear the air and get rid of the potion fumes, which had formed a very dense, oily cloud in the air and was choking the rest of the council and his entourage, he realised something terrible. His magic….. it wasn't working.

"Quickly," he gasped hoarsely, "join me and try to dispel the cloud before it gets to us."

Some of the still conscious council members and some of his assistants tried to dispel the cloud with him, but nothing they did worked. They were all helpless, but the more the Great Wizard and the council members tried to concentrate on dispelling the cloud the more drowsy they became. His vision swimming, the Great Wizard started sinking to the ground….

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"Your Greatness….. can you hear me?"

The Great Wizard began to wake up, his head spinning and feeling like a troll had been using it as part of a drum-set, using a flagpole, and he groaned.

If there was one thing he hated about potions, it was how they made him feel like someone had put him on a broomstick and made go around and around in a circle until everybody got dizzy, waited until he'd stopped and then made him go back on and repeated the same thing until he was virtually incapable of walking.

"Ah, you're awake, your Greatness," a familiar voice observed as he struggled to regain his sense of balance, spitting his title with derision. Anger filled him and he focused on that emotion to get rid of the sensation in his brain. Aha, he thought triumphantly as his focus began to gradually return to normal, he realised that he had heard two women, two witches, speak to him.

But when his focus returned he wondered if he would be better off unconscious. All around him, chained up and kept absolutely immobile, were the boys and girls in Pentangles, their purple uniforms standing out next to the grey and black uniforms of the Cackle's girls. But on both his left and his right were the council members who'd come with him to visit the school, and the entire faculty of Cackles and Pentangles were chained up like he was.

Standing in front of him, unchained and very, very free, were two women. One of them was a woman wearing the black dress-robes of a witch with a pointed hat, but the second one was dressed in a simple black cloak with a hood that was drawn up.

Only witches who were disgraced wore hooded robes and cloaks like that.

The Great Wizard recognised both of them at once. The witch wearing the robes and hat was Miss Gullet, former Spell's science teacher at Cackle's Academy who had stolen the position from Algernon Rowan-Webb, transporting his fellow wizard into a frog where he was forced to live in a pond for 30 years.

The second woman was Agatha Cackle, Ada's twin sister. But what was she doing here?

Anger exploded in the Great Wizard's mind when he realised the pair of them had trapped him and the rest of the council, and he tried to cast a transportation spell so he could be freed and could deal with the two, but nothing happened.

Agatha rolled her eyes and sneered at him. "Did you really think it would be so simple to deal with me?" she asked. "The potion you all inhaled has temporarily dampened your powers. You can't use magic for the time being. I just thought it would be good revenge; now you can experience for yourselves how I have felt all year."

Another witch transported close to where Agatha was standing and approached the cowled woman wearing a black pointed hat. "Mistress," the witch said, deliberately not looking at the students or the Great Wizard, "we haven't found her yet."

Agatha closed her eyes. "How hard can it be to find a stupid non-witch?" she grumbled impatiently, and her eyes opened and glared malevolently around her. "Keep looking! I want her found."

The witch nodded and transported away.

"Who are you looking for?" The Great Wizard asked in confusion; why was Agatha going to all this trouble and getting her coven members to seek out some girl…? And then it came to him why even if he didn't know the who; Agatha was going to find a way to drain an innocent young witch of her powers, but why was she going for a witch….. and what was that she'd said, a non-witch? His mind was still too addled by the potion for him to make the connection.

But not everyone had their heads scrambled by a potion.

To his side, he heard some gasps from some of the teachers, and he turned. Pippa Pentangle was looking at her in horror.

"Leave her alone," the pink-clad headmistress snarled; the Great Wizard was surprised, he had never seen the woman like this before. Who was this child?

Agatha turned slowly in the direction of the younger witch, letting her eyes pass over Pippa's slim pink robed form with disdain. "How are you going to stop me?"

With a sneer, the hooded former-witch turned away and pulled Miss Gullet away so they could speak privately without anyone hearing what they were speaking about. The Great Wizard turned to Pippa, who was glaring at Agatha was pure hatred. "Miss Pentangle," he said, "who was she talking about?"

Pippa turned to him. "Mildred. Mildred Hubble."

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Mildred woke up slowly, feeling a bit wet despite the early morning sun shining down on her, bathing her in warmth. She blinked and shivered, feeling slightly stupid she had fallen asleep out here, but she had been so wound up by the meeting she was going to have with Mrs Hallow and whoever the witch was bringing with her today she had come out of the school during the night, and she had flown down here on her broomstick in the dead of night so she could have a walk to clear her thoughts, but she had fallen asleep.

Mildred stood up quickly and waved a hand over her clothes to remove whatever moisture was on her clothes and she looked left and right to get her bearings. She was certainly on Pentangle's extensive grounds, and so she headed back to the school. Mildred yawned. She was quite tired, she hadn't had a very good sleep, and she felt wound up by the knowledge she would have to give her best to a woman she had never met but knew had rendered a girl her age into a mess, all to ensure that the subject she had come to love wasn't removed and therefore forgotten.

No pressure.

Mildred wasn't looking forward to meeting Mrs Hallow. She didn't know how the woman would react when she learnt that the girl whom she had come to see didn't come from a witching family. Normally Mildred would not make unfair assumptions about anyone, but considering what Ethel had put her through and what she had learnt about the woman… she knew there was a chance that the woman wouldn't listen to her.

"'ow hard can it be to find one girl?!"

Mildred stopped when that shout snapped her out of her reverie and she quickly hid behind a bush. She recognised that voice…..

"Give us a chance, Gullet!" Another voice snapped. "We've been trying to find her all morning, but we have checked the whole school, she is not there-," but the witch was interrupted by Miss Gullet once again.

"Then check again!"

"Gullet, why is Agatha so fixated on this Mildred," Mildred only just stopped herself from gasping too loud at the sound of her name, "surely there are other young witches she can use?"

Miss Gullet's voice was the same, usual smug, arrogant rant Mildred remembered. "You know Agatha wants her, she wants to trick that useless slug into giving her her powers!"

"Gullet?" Mildred whispered to herself. "Agatha?"

Mildred closed her eyes after the surprised shock hit her. She had thought Agatha would be going after Miss Cackle and her damn school, that was what she wanted, right? But what was she doing here, at Pentangles?

"Great," she thought to herself, "as if my day's not complicated enough already."

Moving slowly and holding her broomstick horizontally, Mildred headed back for the school, but she kept an eye out. It was a long trip back to the school, and more than once Mildred had to hide in case one of the adult witches caught her. She had just come into her powers, she didn't want to lose them, especially to someone as shallow as Agatha. When she came close to the school's entrance, she had to hide when she saw one of the adult witches Agatha had working for her, and crept back inside the school.

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Mildred looked grimly down at the courtyard from the window in her room. As she'd entered the school, she had noticed that she had only seen witches whom she didn't know but seemed determined to find her. Where were the Pentangles teachers? Where were her friends? Looking down at the quad she could see for herself what looked like every single student and teacher at Pentangles and Cackles, teachers like HB and Miss Pentangle were easy to spot, and even more disturbingly what looked like the Great Wizard.

But her attention was drawn to the sight of a small black-cloaked woman standing in front of the Great Wizard. Mildred sighed and pressed her forehead against the window pane. How had Agatha managed all of this? Where did she find all of these witches to help her with this little plan of hers?

Mildred didn't want to be involved, but she knew it couldn't be avoided. Whether she liked it or not, Pentangles was involved and it might not be the same ever again. She had honestly thought that Agatha would leave her alone and never come within touching distance of her again. Sure, the witch was deranged and blamed her for not getting hold of Cackles Academy, but surely the woman wanted the school? Why burn it down? Mildred rolled her eyes in frustration; she couldn't believe this was happening again. She had thought she had seen the last of Agatha Cackle. She had honestly hoped never to see the woman ever again, and now here she was; holding her school hostage, her friends, her former schoolmates from Cackles, and the Great Wizard, of all people!

All to get hold of her magic!

Today, Mildred Hubble's magic.

Tomorrow, the magical world.

The next day, the entire planet.

Mildred sighed and closed her eyes, and she glared down at the black-clad woman. She had had enough. She had had enough of dealing with this annoying woman who had already tried to kill her, but that was when Cackles was still in one piece and not a gutted ruin -

And then something occurred to her, what if Agatha was behind the fire? No, that made no sense - Agatha wanted the castle and the school, the prestige that came from being the Headmistress. But what if Agatha had simply become sick and tired of the plans she set up going wrong, either because of misfortune, bad luck, and simply going too far which always led to her leaving with her metaphorical tail between her legs?

That made sense.

Mildred closed her eyes again and tried to work out what to do. The last time Agatha had been beaten she had made the mistake of revealing her inability to do any magic. Contrary to what others thought, Mildred knew she hadn't done anything during that mess; she had been too busy trying hard to control the broomstick Ethel had magicked to take her on a speeding journey around Cackles, high up into the air.

She hadn't even seen the possibility Agatha was back then, so she had needed to tell Maud at the last minute so she could do something. But this was different. This time she knew Agatha was here, but how was she going to deal with her?

Moving away from the window in case one of the coven witches or even Agatha herself saw her in the window, Mildred turned around and looked around her bedroom - how did Agatha's coven take on the entire school in such a manner, but she would worry about that later - and her eyes lit up when she saw her drawings. Could she….?

Mildred looked at the drawings thoughtfully, ideas entering her mind quickly, and she went forward and grabbed her drawing pad and some of her pencils and quickly got to work before it occurred to her to cast a spell to silence her work in case one of the coven members overheard her pencils.

She quickly got started, relying on her memory to come up with the drawing, wishing that both of her hands could work like that robot Sonny which she had seen a few years ago in I, Robot in that scene with Will Smith. She needed to get to work on the smaller drawings to help her with her plan, but it was the main picture which was vital to her plan.

Mildred's mind raced as she tried to think about what her plan was going to be - she was the type of girl who didn't come up with plans, just made things up as she went along - but this time she had no intention of playing games. But as she drew the pictures she would need to stop this mess, Mildred realised she wouldn't have time to really detail her bigger picture, so she took a deep breath and took a break from it and began drawing a few new pictures - hopefully, when she unleashed them they would keep Agatha and her witches occupied while she got to work with the rest.

She closed her eyes and hoped that she didn't use a great deal of her magic for this - she had been practising under the guidance of Miss Bluebell and those other enchantresses for weeks, and they had helped her 'exercise' her magic when they'd discovered just how far her talent in enchanting went.

But they had warned her NOT to push too much of her magic into her drawings to bring them to life because it could exhaust her, but she might have no alternative but to break or bend that rule…..

She was snapped out of her thoughts when she looked up from her drawings, hoping to find some kind of inspiration, and then she caught sight of what looked like a cloud of smoke, or mist, appearing in her bedroom. Mildred watched it openmouthed, and she dropped her pencils and prepared to stand up, wondering if the mists were something Agatha had cooked up; just because she didn't have magic didn't mean she couldn't come up with something unexpected-

No, something didn't feel right - why would Agatha get one of her witches to send mist of all things into her bedroom? But she went stiff when she noticed a dark mass in the cloud as it began to dissipate, revealing a woman wearing a pointed black witches hat, and dark cloak with one of those weird neck ruffs she had seen in history books about the Tudor period…..

"I can't go through with it," the woman said, looking around curiously, "I just can't…. Oh, where am I? Oh, I hope my family is alright, whenever I am!"

With each word that this unusual witch came out with, the more Mildred was convinced this wasn't one of Agatha's followers, but she couldn't be sure.

"Sorry, but who are you?" Mildred asked, shocking the witch who swung around at once. Mildred blinked in surprise - this woman…. she didn't look like her mother, but there was resemblance…. She had short, jaw length white-grey hair, which was curled just like Julie's, but there was something in her face…

The strange witch looked down at the girl who was clearly busy drawing some pictures on the floor of some strange room. "Who are you?" the witch countered.

"My name is Mildred Hubble," Mildred replied.

The witch gasped. "Hubble? But…. that means…. I didn't do it!"

Mildred was becoming more confused by the moment. "Sorry?"

"I didn't transfer my powers to the stone," the woman said seemingly to herself, "but that means I put the future of my family above the future of my coven…."

Mildred was even more confused, but now she let her impatience fuel her temper. "What family? Who are you talking about?"

The witch seemed to realise that she had been talking to herself, and she looked down at the girl. "I am Mirabelle, Mirabelle….Hubble," she introduced herself before she greeted Mildred with the ritualistic greeting. "Well met, Mildred Hubble."

But Mildred was looking up at the woman in shock. "What? Hubble, did you just say Hubble?"

The witch nodded in confusion now. "Yes, why?"

Mildred looked at her surprise. Only one thing was going through her mind at that point, she was from a witching family.

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Please tell me what you think.


	18. Chapter 18 Mirabelle Hubble

I hope you've all been enjoying my story, and I hope you like this one. This chapter is going to be Hubble centric with a lot more dedicated to Mirabelle.

Enjoy, and as always please leave feedback and tell me what you think and what I should improve.

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Mirabelle Hubble.

"I can't go through with it," Mirabelle Hubble whispered to herself, shivering slightly as the magical frosts cold got to her, seeking out her magic and leeching it out of her while the weight of the Founding Stone in the pocket of her robes was making her more aware of how little time she had left before the frost reached her

The Founding stone was dead, the coven was becoming a magical dead zone and everywhere in the caves where magic touched the coven the most - the ritual room, the library, the star chamber -, they were all turned to ice. All of the coven sisters had left, all but one. Her name was Mirabelle Hubble, the head witch of her family, a very old but great bloodline. But right now she felt like she was anything but a great witch.

Mirabelle Hubble was a very frightened witch. That was not an easy admission for someone of her calibre to admit to, but right now she didn't feel like a witch. She didn't dare use magic at the moment because if she did, then she would freeze.

She had just worked out what she would need to do to reignite the Founding stone of her coven, but it was a price too steep for her to comprehend.

It was very rare for her to be frightened. To anyone who knew the coven members they knew they were very powerful and very learned witches, well trained in the magical arts and wise, but when it became known that the Founding Stone was dead and the effects were quickly felt when the coven members found that their magic was playing up and very bizarre activity was taking place - spells that were meant to perform the simplest of tasks were no longer working, or their magic was misfiring, or the potions in the cauldrons were exploding and splashing their contents all over the place - the other witches - the students, the sisters, they had all left.

It hadn't occurred to any of the coven sisters the problem was in the Founding Stone, but when the caves began to ice over, particularly the parts where magic was at the strongest level, everyone guessed what had happened.

Mirabelle and the coven sisters knew what would happen if they stayed in the caves. Magic would no longer work here, never again. But it was so painful for them to leave the coven, just abandoning it to its fate. When the Magic Council had permitted them to use a Founding stone when they had said its inclusion would make the coven truly great and become a great magical school in turn, none of the sisters had ever imagined just how great the coven would become as a result. Already they had trained several dozen witches, who had gone on to pioneer great advances in the Craft to keep the magical tradition alive and had already had children, who would soon have become eligible to become members of the coven, since it took a coven, in their mind, to truly make a great witch.

The coven had grown to become a truly great magical school set into the caves, bringing in witches from all across the land to come here to the caves where they would how to become great witches.

Founding Stones were extremely powerful. They were used by witches and wizards all around the world to power their schools, to make a magical school truly magical. For covens, it was the same principle. There were many covens around the country, and each of them had a stone in place to give their coven a true sense of magical meaning.

For a stone to die…..

Mirabelle was terrified of what had happened, none of the sisters knew what had happened to the magic in the stone, but if it had anything to do with that Hallow woman….. Mirabelle hoped she was wrong. The Hallows had a great reputation, but some of their clan had always been too greedy for their own good, and Mirabelle hoped that the witch from the Hallow line, Merope, who had recently joined the coven hadn't done something incredibly stupid. Mirabelle knew she didn't have any proof and she couldn't really be bothered with trying to find out for herself if Merope Hallow had decided to steal the power of the Founding Stone for herself.

That was the trouble with Hallows, they were so ambitious and always unable to think beyond their own warts to realise that they were in over their heads. The only good thing was her sisters, knowing the dangers, had evacuated the caves, but Mirabelle hadn't left; there was something in her blood, and indeed the blood of all of her family which stopped her from giving in even if the weight of the events brought her down.

But it was hopeless.

Mirabelle had fled to the part of the caves that led to the outside to think of a way to restore and re-power the Founding stone - she did that because she knew if she was anywhere near the parts of the caves where the magic was strongest, she would just become a big block of ice. She could already feel the magical frost setting in. Mirabelle had never seen this type of parasitic magic before which drained the power out of witches and wizards, even those as powerful as Merlin and Morgana themselves. The Founding stone was simply trying to restore itself by stripping everything in its path of magic through the magical frost. All of the coven sisters had known about that if they'd stayed then their coven which they had lived in, provided for, and made great, would cease to exist when this place became a magical black spot. So they had fled, taking with them the students that the coven had worked hard to provide for. Mirabelle had no idea where they were, but she hoped they had all gotten as far from the caves as they could go, but there was no telling how far the effects of the magical frost would go.

Standing in one of the potion rooms but prepared to leave in case she had no choice, Mirabelle had been trying to think of a way to get around this mess without resorting to the idea that had already formed while fighting her own unease, not to mention the cold feeling she was getting just by being close to the magical frost. She had been on the point of just simply giving up and trying to leave before the frost and the ice set in, and turned her into a block of ice, and she would become trapped in these caves for the rest of time with no real help of rescue.

Mirabelle had already tried everything she could have thought of to try to reignite the Founding stone. She had offered it her own magic to try to reignite it, but the stone hadn't accepted it. She simply didn't have enough magic to satisfy the needs of the stone.

But then it had occurred to her; she had been so certain that if she offered her magic to the stone, it would reignite, but then she'd realised that the sacrifice of one witch's magic was simply not enough for the stone to be satisfied. But while the solution was simple, Mirabelle simply couldn't go through with it. She couldn't do it. She couldn't make her family lose their magic.

But when it had occurred to her, she had left the Founding Stone chamber in the caves, and hurried out, but she had taken the stone with her - she didn't like the idea of leaving it behind, and besides if she changed her mind and hurried back she didn't want to get halfway through the caves only to freeze and fail, so she had taken it out of the chamber and brought it with her, but the stone was still dangerous in the current state it was in.

The Founding stone wouldn't just want her magic, but the magic of her daughter, and all of the daughters of the Hubble family to follow.

Mirabelle had the solution, but she could not bring herself to do it.

"I can't go through with it," Mirabelle repeated to herself, but this time she went on, "I can't just take that which belongs to my family."

Family was everything to a witch next to magic itself, and even with the witches' code hanging over their heads, some of the rules stifling them and causing problems for them in the long run (she would not think about those inheritance laws, while they made some sense, Mirabelle didn't like the thought of a family just having a single child every generation - what if something happened to all of the family causing it to die out?), family would always come out on top.

But Mirabelle had seen dozens of cases in other magical families, the individual members, place their own hubris and be so sure of their superiority just because they were witches and wizards. It sickened Mirabelle. If there was one thing in her family which had been made clear to her over the years, it was that family was everything, but using the heart and the mind could overcome every obstacle instead of looking for the easiest option. Merope Hallow had never understood that, and she doubted the entire family could.

But she didn't want to just hand her magic and the magic of all the daughters to follow, including her own child, to the Founding Stone. Mirabelle had always been a witch ever since she was a little girl, and her own daughter was only just learning of the beauties of magic even if she herself were a toddler at the moment. Did she had the right to deprive her child and all the children to follow in their family line of the wonders of magic simply out of the need to restore a Founding Stone?

Mirabelle didn't particularly care about the stigma which would follow her and her family, and all of the families of the coven sisters and their students if she just abandoned her efforts to reignite the stone, though they were at the forefront of her mind along with the knowledge the stone wanted more, the magic of those to come and her own daughter. The Stone was virtually dead. When that got out, and word would get out, the coven sisters would be disgraced and even if they were innocent the students themselves would suffer as well.

She had also worked out how many generations of Hubble's would pay the price for her plan if she decided to go through with it.

Twelve.

Twelve generations of magic.

The Hubble family had produced great witches. None of their members was big on academics, but they had always seen academics as good but unable to properly improvise or think of a better way of doing things.

Mirabelle couldn't just condemn her family for losing what made them magical, but as she walked about the potions laboratory - it wasn't much of a laboratory; it was a massive cave that had just been hollowed out for the purposes of the students and the cove - she was beginning to think she might not have much choice.

With a sigh, Mirabelle looked around the potions laboratory wistfully - only a few hours ago before the first sign of things really going bad, this laboratory had been hosting a small class of witches being trained by a fully trained witch, hoping to give the world a new generation of witches - and then she caught sight of something glowing on one of the shelves.

Intrigued, Mirabelle walked over to the shelves and picked out the glow very easily. It was coming from a crystalline bottle that was incredibly thick. Mirabelle lifted the bottle off the shelves and examined it curiously before she recognised it. The bottle contained a fragment of the magic that made up the Mists of Time, the bottle tightly compressed the mists trapped within it, in and in and in until the magic was virtually untouchable to the magical frost, though Mirabelle had no doubts in her mind that eventually the frost would probably leech the magic from the Mists.

She remembered how long it had taken for some of her sisters to get a fraction of the mists and put it into the bottle, but it was never really used except to use the mists as part of their rituals.

But as she held the bottle containing the fragment in her hands, a mad idea was making its way into Mirabelle's mind….. Taking a deep breath, Mirabelle left the laboratory and headed for the entrance as quickly as she could, hoping she had plenty of time…..

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One of the drawbacks of being a witch was the older and more experienced one got, and they became more proficient with the use of the Transportation spell, the more they stopped walking from place to place. Mirabelle was panting with the effort and she leaned against a tall and strong tree for support even as she took in great breaths of air. Her lungs felt as though they had spent the last few hours breathing in nothing but smoke from a blacksmith's hut, and she was bent over double.

Mirabelle had needed to jog as far from the caves as she could while leaving the Founding stone close by the entrance for when she returned to the caves. If she ever did…

Swallowing, she took a few moments of careful breathing to restore her lungs to normal, and she risked using her magic to summon a flagon of water to soothe her throat which felt as though it had been cut open and exposed to the sun for a week to dry it out. She had had no idea how large a magical black-spot was until today; Mirabelle had needed to get, she estimated but she wasn't sure, two miles away from the coven entrance before she could feel her magic being free again. But the journey had tired her out.

"I suppose I should get used to it if my plan works," she thought acidly; if it worked and she had no more magic, then she would need to get around by walking, not something she was looking forward too, one of the benefits of a transportation spell was being able to move quickly without using too much energy.

Mirabelle took a last gulp of water - this wasn't the time to be ladylike - and she banished the flagon and closed her eyes and reopened them again when she realised she felt like she was back to her old self again.

Reaching into her cloak, Mirabelle pulled out the bottle containing the Mists of Time fragment, and she closed her eyes again and spent a few seconds praying that this would work. She started spinning on her heels gently, around and around, trying to stop the motion from getting to her before she lifted the bottle over her head and unstoppered it, and then she stopped and had to dig one of her heels into the ground to anchor herself to stop herself from falling. All around her, the mists from the fragment were around her, and she began to chant. Mirabelle could feel the magic of the spell mix with the magic of the Mists of Time fragment, but she couldn't see what was ahead of her

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Looking down at the girl who was still looking up at her with shock, Mirabelle was trying hard to portray a confidence she didn't feel.

In the end, she decided that the best way to find answers was to ask for them. "So, where are we?"

The girl, Mildred Hubble - the news her family still had magic, and the signs were all around for Mirabelle to see; a pointed hat, well more than one pointed hat in the room, though there were three extra beds with other witch and magic related paraphernalia scattered about - replied, "This is Pentangles. It's a magical school that teaches both witches and wizards."

Mirabelle was surprised to hear that; it was a tradition for witches to teach younger witches and vice-versa for wizards. But she didn't know too much about the situation to ask any decent questions. "And you're Mildred Hubble?" Mirabelle asked; she had to know for sure, but she knew it was true. She had made it clear during the chant she wanted to see the future of her family, so this girl must be her descendant.

"Yes," the girl replied. "Sorry, but until around three months ago, I had no idea I had actual witches in my family. I mean, I tried to find out, but I couldn't find anything…"

Mirabelle looked down at the girl in surprise. "You didn't know?" she asked quietly, dread filling her.

"No. I thought my mum was a witch once, but she isn't. I'm the only member of the family to have magic, and there are only four of us," Mildred looked down sadly for a second before she looked up, "why are you here?"

Mirabelle had listened to what Mildred had said about her mother and the rest of her family not having magic, and dread began to fill her. She had hoped that her family had still possessed magic in some fashion, but from the sound of it Mildred and her family hadn't known about it until recently.

"I think I am the reason for you and your mother only having found out about magic," Mirabelle replied softly.

Mildred looked even more confused as she tried to work out what Mirabelle could have done for her family to lose magic all the way until she'd come along. "What do you mean?"

Mirabelle began to explain about the Founding Stone and what it was, what it did, certain that the girl didn't know anything about that type of magic, but while she was upset that the family had lost a vast amount of its knowledge of magic and would need to get it all back with Mildred, Mirabelle wasn't completely surprised by her ignorance.

"And that's why I came here," Mirabelle concluded. "I needed to see if my family, my great-grandchildren were happy with or without magic, and then make my way back to the Stone."

Mildred didn't know what to say, she looked down at her drawings for a moment to find some kind of inspiration about what to say. It was hard for her to take in the shocking and sudden revelation that she was from a witching family. "So…. my gran was supposed to be a witch if this Founding Stone hadn't somehow lost its magic? My mum?"

Mirabelle nodded. "Yes," she replied softly, unable to hide the sadness in her voice. "I am so sorry, my child. If there had been some other way, I would have taken it..," she said.

Mildred nodded in understanding. She would do anything to help her friends, and it looked like that trait of her family was purely genetic.

"Tell me," Mirabelle said, trying to sound positive and buoyant, but Mildred could see the pain in her eyes; it was clear she didn't like having to ask, but she wanted to get it out of the way. "How did you find out about magic?"

Mildred blew out a breath - she felt like her first year in the witching world had gone on forever, it was so shocking that it had only been a few months - wondering what she could tell the woman before she decided to start at the beginning. "My mum and I live quite close to a Witching school, Cackle's Academy. I was always able to see it whereas my mother couldn't, but she knew it was there. I guess, now I know that we're both from a witching family, she could tell something was there. Anyway, one day I was making breakfast and I saw some witches flying past on broomsticks, but only I could see them. After that, I took a closer look, and one of the witches crash-landed onto the balcony. Her name is Maud Spellbody, and she told me about the Cackle's Academy entrance exam. She'd lost her glasses, but I talked her into taking me to the school. When we arrived, it didn't take long for the teachers to learn I wasn't from their world. At the same time, the headmistress's twin sister Agatha was there, and she tried to take over the school. Agatha called for a duel, and Ada, her twin lost, and invoked a section of the code which prevented anyone else from stopping her, but because I technically wasn't from the witching world, the code didn't apply to me. I prompted a cat to knock over a soup containing an obedience potion over Agatha, and under my control, she turned her sister back to normal. As a punishment, Agatha's powers were removed, and she has been trying to get them back ever since."

Mildred looked back down at the drawing for a second, gathering her thoughts and then she looked back up into her ancestor's eyes. Mirabelle was looking at her with pride and love, but Mildred wasn't finished.

"After that, Miss Cackle decided to give me a trial at her school, but it didn't work out. A few months ago, I was accused of stealing a star globe belonging to one of my classmates. In fact, it had just rolled to the back of the drawer."

Mirabelle's breath hitched. "What? Didn't they try looking for proof?"

"No. I wasn't the best student at the school; I knew very little of the witching world, the traditions, how to make magic work, and how to brew potions. I went to sleep, a few hours later I was woken up again by my teachers, and they were telling me that because of the theft I would be forced to go through a day of utter hell," Mildred's face darkened as she remembered the humiliation of that miserable day, but that was nothing compared to what had happened to poor Tabby.

Mildred looked back into her ancestor's eyes - Mirabelle was looking upset and horrified by what she was hearing. Well, she had more to hear.

"When the trial came, I'd been isolated from the rest of the school and even my friends had turned on me," she said, knowing that her great+ grandmother would find it hard to believe that she'd just forgive and forget the event when she found out that her friends had been partially forgiven and given a second chance, "I had spent the entire day having to put up with the teachers using their lessons not to teach, but to spend their time making me cry. When the trial came, no real evidence was put forward. Everyone used the trial to point out things I'd done wrong."

Mildred closed her eyes and confessed, "With every little thing I had done wrong - failed flying tests, turning a girl into a pig by accident - all that along with the fact I'd resorted to cheating in the entrance exam, which I'm not proud of by the way being thrown into my face, well I had just about had enough of Cackles. It was clear I didn't have any place there. I would always be a stranger. I was coming to terms with that and was actually beginning to feel comfy with the thought of just going home and being with my mother."

Mirabelle felt sick hearing that from Mildred, but she could understand where the girl was coming from with that point of view. "But if that's the case, then how is it you're here at a different magic school?"

"The globe was found at the last minute," Mildred said simply. "After that, I got a personal apology from the staff and students at Cackles, but I didn't want to hear it. I was so fed up with them, but a part of me may have been thinking about forgiving them. I might be wrong. My feelings were all over the place at that point."

She was telling the truth. It had taken her a while to admit that to herself, though it had only been since she had transferred to Pentangles and made a fresh start and actually gained a better insight into her life as a witch that she had been forced to confront the truth of what had happened at Cackles.

That was one of the reasons why Mildred had given some of her room to Ethel, Maud, and Enid.

But back then….

Mildred had been so sickened and furious by what had happened, and it wasn't just the treatment she had received, the humiliation she had endured, and the revelation that she had no place at Cackles, coupled with what had happened to Tabby, she had wanted to escape and get her life back on track, far from the criticism of Miss Hardbroom, the well-meaning chatting from Miss Cackle, and the lack of help from Maud and Enid.

"But when I got to my room, I found it trashed and my cat was the victim of a nasty curse. He could have been killed."

Mirabelle gasped. She didn't care that much about the code, her sympathy was with the poor cat. "Is….is he alright?"

"He is now," Mildred whispered before she shook her head. "Not long afterwards, Cackle's hosted a competition that I became a part of because of the fact that the girls had to be selected out of alphabetical order. Me and another girl, Ethel Hallow, was a part of it-."

"Hallow, did you just say Hallow?"

Mildred sighed. Would she ever finish her story? "Yeah, why? Don't tell me you them as well?"

"I'm afraid I do," Mirabelle replied shortly, deciding not to tell the girl about her suspicions that Merope Hallow had stolen the magic from the stone. It wouldn't do any good now. "Anyway, go on. What happened?"

"I was pushed from one revision session to the next, but at the last minute before the competition began I was told not to take part. It wasn't until my new headmistress pointed out in the rulebook that I had to take part that I spent most of my time sampling the spells Ethel made. I was so bored. It was during a break that Miss Pentangle offered me a scholarship here. I accepted, and I transferred the same day. While I've been here, I've improved my skills as a witch," Mildred finished with a smile, proud of what she'd managed to achieve since her transfer.

Mirabelle smiled at Mildred, pleased to see the passion in her voice.

"But recently, a fire broke out at Cackles - Magical Greek FiendFyre - and the Great Wizard told Miss Pentangle to accept them into Pentangles," Mildred went on, wiping the smile off Mirabelle's face as easily as using an eraser to rub out lines left by a pencil at the mention of the spell used against Cackles. "And now, Agatha Cackle is out there right now, and she wants me to hand over my powers on a plate. She's brought her coven here as well, and somehow she's captured the Great Wizard himself."

"What?" Mirabelle couldn't believe what she was hearing. "But if they want you, why are you up here, drawing?"

Fortunately, Mildred had been finished with the smaller drawings, but she didn't know how Mirabelle would react….

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More next time.


	19. Chapter 19 What have you done now?

I'm not going to write the entire confrontation between Agatha and Mildred simply because it has already been written - it's in the prologue. Keep your eyes open in this chapter - there are a few spoilers for other things for you to enjoy.

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"What have you done now, Millie?"

"No," Mirabelle Hubble said, shaking her head as she looked at her many time's great-granddaughters'. She had never heard of anything so reckless in all of her life. But as she looked at her descendant, Mirabelle had to admit Mildred was very much a Hubble. Her family had always favoured the act first, think afterwards approach to things.

It seemed such things never left the bloodlines, even after twelve generations.

"Why not? Mildred argued. "It's the only plan I've got in mind."

"It's dangerous," Mirabelle replied.

When she had found out about Mildred's talents with enchanting, Mirabelle had been amazed and delighted; the Hubble family had some phenomenal enchantresses in their proud history, but it was a talent that had dwindled over the centuries. It surprised Mirabelle that the old gift had returned to the Hubbles', but she thought it over a bit more it made sense that after twelve generations waiting for magic to return to the family, there would also be time for magic to give such a wonderful gift back to the family by giving it to the thirteenth generation.

But even Mirabelle had been taken by surprise when she had seen for herself what Mildred could do with enchanting. In fact, if anyone had told her about it, she would have been hard-pressed to believe them and not even her own ancestors who'd had the gift of enchanting would have been able to do what Mildred could do so seemingly effortlessly.

And she was not even twelve yet.

Unfortunately, as a classically trained and professional witch, confident in herself and in the tradition of the Craft, Mirabelle had enough experience to guess that such a gift was incredibly taxing on Mildred, who was still only just discovering her powers. A witch's powers grew with each year, but Mirabelle hoped Mildred wasn't stupid enough to put too much strain on her own abilities just to rid her school of a dangerous coven who had come to steal her powers.

What was happening to the witching world anyway? In Mirabelle's day, magical schools were covered with layer upon layer of dangerous spells and wards designed to keep such people out of them. And the Great Wizard in her time would never have allowed such an attack to go unpunished. But that wasn't her problem right now. She had the difficult task of getting her many time great-great-granddaughter to see sense. But she knew she wasn't going to get anywhere, and besides deep down Mirabelle was happy that her family, even after losing their magic for a few centuries, hadn't lost their touch.

Too bad it was so frustrating.

Mirabelle wondered if she could bring the girl's mother into the school. It would be phenomenal to see how a non-magical lifestyle suited this Julie Hubble, but Mirabelle wasn't sure if it was a wise move. For one thing there wasn't time, and while it would be great for her to see another descendant she didn't want to use too much of her magic since she would need to save it for when she would go back and recharge that wretched Founding Stone (Mirabelle wondered if Mildred's aunt and grandmother even knew about the existence of magic - she hoped they did, but if Julie and Mildred had hidden it from them then she would be upset. She would need to ask Mildred about it later, but for now, there wasn't time), and for another, she didn't want to endanger the life of her great great great great great great great great great great great great granddaughter in a magical fight.

"I know, do you really think I want to see Agatha again? The woman tried to kill me, because of her I nearly fell off my broomstick after the stupid thing was put under a spell that she manipulated someone else into putting on the broom to take me high up into the air," Mildred replied.

The girl had no intention of telling Mirabelle that Ethel Hallow had put the spell on the broomstick, and she hoped that Mirabelle was too bothered by other matters right now to realise that she had said that.

Unfortunately, Mirabelle was sharper than that.

"What do you mean, manipulated someone into putting a spell on a broom to take you high into the air and trying to kill you?" Mirabelle's voice was a growl protectively. It amazed her that she seemed so protective of Mildred, they didn't even know each other so well.

Mildred sighed, and she slapped her forehead in frustration. "Okay, she manipulated Ethel Hallow-."

"Hallow? Oooh, that family! What did Agatha tell this girl, this Ethel?"

Mildred shrugged. "She basically said that Agatha, in her guise as Miss Cackle, told her she didn't want me to embarrass the school, and she felt it would be best if I was kicked out."

"So, this Ethel Hallow felt that killing you was a good idea?" Mirabelle shook her head in disgust. "Hold on a moment, isn't that same girl sharing your bedroom?"

Mildred closed her eyes. Every minute they wasted here, the quicker it could be for Agatha or one of her coven sisters to find them. "Yes. I wanted to turn over a new leaf with her, but Ethel isn't big on gratitude. Listen. We don't have time for this. Please, help me."

Mirabelle sighed.

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Sometime later after watching Agatha taunt Mildred, who had been brought to the courtyard asleep with Miss Gullet and another coven member holding her, and then chained in the centre so then Agatha could laud it over her, Pippa Pentangle blinked in surprise as Mildred's strange statement penetrated her mind, but she couldn't work out what Mildred had done.

"What have you done now, Millie?" she whispered again.

In the time Mildred Hubble had been at Pentangles, Pippa had been wowed by the girl - her dedication to learning to become a witch, tempered by her desire to enjoy life made her a joy to be around. Too bad she was sometimes doing things that made Pippa question the girl's sanity.

A gasp to her left made Pippa turn and look into Lexi's face. The enchanting teacher was looking at Mildred with slow but growing smile.

"Oh, you clever girl!" Lexi whispered.

Agatha glared at the girl in confusion. "What are you babbling about?"

Mildred smirked. "Oh, I'm sorry, are you talking to me?'

"Or to me?" Everyone jumped in surprise when another Mildred, completely free and smiling innocently, stood a little further away from the Mildred who was in the centre of the courtyard.

"Or to me?" Pippa jumped out of her skin when another Mildred revealed herself right in the middle of the crowd of teachers from both Cackles and Pentangles, and the Great Wizard's entourage.

Three more Mildred's appeared by the students. "Or to us?" They asked in stereo, surprising everyone. In the crowd, the Hallow sisters exchanged a quick look of surprise though Esmerelda saw a look of annoyance on her sister's face, guessing Mildred was once more angering her sister.

Miss Hardbroom's groan made Pippa look at her, and Pippa almost laughed when she saw that Hecate looked a moment away from pulling her hair out by its roots. "Merlin, five of them!"

"What magic did you just use, that wasn't the transportation spell?" One of the witches of the Magic Council asked the Mildred that had appeared in their midst. "How can you have five copies of yourself? Did you lose a clone spell?"

Mildred smiled enigmatically; in fact, there was something truly serene in her expression that it reminded the teachers at Pentangles of Lexi, who was perhaps the most serene, carefree person they knew.

"M-Mildred?" Pippa whispered.

Mildred looked at her with that familiar mischievous, impish grin. "It's simple enough; I'm a drawing."

Pippa gaped at her and turned to Lexi, who was looking at her pupil with so much pride it looked like she was about a second away from breaking down into happy tears. "Oh, you little genius, Mildred."

Mildred grinned. "It's outwardly me," she went on, "but inwardly…. just magic. I'm not sure how to describe it."

Another copy of Mildred appeared and touched the manacles of the Pentangles teachers and the entourage. "Let us handle this, we have a plan," the second Mildred said, "well more or less."

Pippa sighed. "Oh Millie," she said, "you shouldn't be doing this-."

"I have to, Miss Pentangle." There was serious anger in the duplicate Mildred's face and voice. "I'm tired of Agatha showing herself. I'm sick of the fact she feels she has to burn down her own family's legacy just to get to me."

"What makes you think Agatha burnt down the Academy, she loved that school?" Ada asked, aghast; it was clear the woman found such a notion that her own sister was responsible for burning down the school disturbing.

"You're about to find out," the duplicate Mildred replied, nodding forwards, and the entire group looked ahead and saw Agatha and Miss Gullet looking at the other duplicates.

"How are you doing this?" Miss Gullet asked, her tone not quite it's usual guttural tone, but a calmer one, filled with amazement and surprise.

The duplicate Mildred's didn't respond, but one of them stepped forward and made a throwing gesture at Agatha. The woman screamed in shock when she felt something wrap around her. It was a golden rope, but no-one had seen it in the duplicate Mildred's hands.

"What is this?" Agatha shouted. "Get this off of me!"

The duplicate Mildred shook its head. "Why should we?"

"There's no point trying to get it off," another duplicate said helpfully.

Agatha growled at the duplicate that had just spoken before swinging round to address Gullet. "What are you waiting for?" she demanded the hapless woman. "Get this thing off of me!"

The duplicate of Mildred standing near the teachers sighed. "Idiots," she whispered.

"Will they get that rope off?" The Great Wizard asked.

"It's not a rope, it's the Lasso of Truth," the duplicate said cryptically.

"What does that do?" Mrs Hallow demanded.

The duplicate looked at her strangely. "It makes you tell the truth," the duplicate replied, making Mrs Hallow bridle at how she was being spoken to.

"Such a spell like that doesn't exist," Miss Hardbroom observed.

"It does if you're a drawing, and have a healthy amount of imagination to fuel it," the duplicate countered.

Meanwhile, Miss Gullet was throwing more and more spells at the rope.

"Can't you see you're wasting your time, Miss Gullet?" One of the duplicates said.

"The magic of the lasso is different from what you're used to," another added.

But Miss Gullet wasn't listening to the duplicates, which didn't surprise anyone watching; for someone who harped on about health and safety, Miss Gullet was so incredibly arrogant and believed she knew best. It didn't take long for the woman to realise the duplicates had a point.

"What's the point behind all this?" Agatha snapped.

"Yeah, where's that useless slug you're imitating?" Gullet sneered.

"You'll find out," one of the duplicates said gravely, "but for now, Agatha; did you have something to do with the fire that gutted Cackles Academy?"

Agatha had no intention of telling them the truth, but when she opened her mouth to tell the duplicates what they could do with themselves, she found herself saying, "Of course I did." The moment the words passed through her lips, Agatha would have slapped her hands to her mouth, but the lasso restrained her too well.

"Agatha, what are you doing?" Miss Gullet hissed. "You're giving the game away!"

The Great Wizard turned to the duplicate of Mildred Hubble - while what he had just seen wasn't necessarily proof of what had happened to the school, he could see that it made a sort of sense. "When did you realise?"

"I'm afraid you'll have to ask Mildred, the real Mildred," the duplicate said after a moment. "I am just a copy."

Pippa looked at the duplicate strangely, the pink-clad headmistress was becoming convinced something was up. "Where is she?"

The duplicate smirked, but whether or not the duplicate would have actually explained what was going on none of the teachers or the Magic Council entourage would have found out because the rest of Agatha's coven magically transported themselves into the courtyard.

"What's going on?" Agatha asked, thankful she could at least bark out questions and orders to her underlings without the lasso interfering with her and making her say something she shouldn't. She was angry and surprised that Mildred had been able to do it. How had she done it? Agatha decided to wait and learn for herself, she had more important things on her mind like trying to find out where the real Mildred Hubble was.

One of the coven sisters was looking like she had seen a poltergeist, though no self-respecting witch would ever be frightened of one of those devilish spirits.

"Mistress," the woman tried to explain, but while her eyes spoke of seeing such terror, she was completely incapable of actually describing what that terror was, but then she didn't need too; the sound of many footsteps echoing through the school could now clearly be heard as well as all around them. Pippa frowned in thought; they didn't sound like boots, there was a more….metallic sound mixed in with the steps…. and then someone amongst the students cried out.

"LOOK!"

Pippa and the rest of the teachers, as well as the entourage with the Great Wizard, turned in the direction the student had indicated, cursing their inability to use magic; they might be feeling the potion wearing off, but its effects were still present. But as she turned in the direction the student indicated, where the footsteps were coming from, Pippa's eyes shot open in shock.

No, it was not possible, she thought to herself, blinking rapidly and even pinching her arm to make sure she wasn't dreaming, but this was real. It was really happening.

Walking slowly and ponderously towards them, the sun gleaming across their metallic bodies, were a line of knights in armour, armed with the classic weapons of their time; massive swords that looked like they could bring down anything short of an oak tree, maces that looked like it would take a bear to lift them up high enough to do any damage anyway. More than one of them were clothed in suits of armour that completely covered the head, and the eyes were just black, empty holes - they were sinister enough like that, but when you looked at the massive axes, their razor-sharp edges shine menacingly in the sun, they made you shudder.

But these were not your ordinary knights. All there was, all the students and the teachers could see, was the armour, the weapons. It was like the suits had been animated, and while it was possible with magic, it was very hard to accomplish even for professional and powerful wizards and witches because of the sheer amount of magic that was needed to animate the armour and make it move, but here it was like whoever had done this, and Pippa had a very good idea whom had done it without breaking a sweat.

Behind her, she could hear mutterings.

"Impossible."

"How can there be so many of them?"

"Whoever is doing this is incredibly careless!"

Pippa rolled her eyes as she heard them, but her eyes scanned Agatha and her coven sisters. Like everyone else, the invading coven was taken aback by the advancing army as they appeared, marching out of the school and walking over the grounds towards them (Pippa wasn't sure if the sight of the horses armour which only covered the tops but was completely empty and devoid of life, though the armour moved in much the same way as the horses trotted was more sinister than the others, but this was not the time), but Agatha finally gave into her panic.

"Stop them, you fools!" Agatha shouted at her coven sisters, but the sound of medieval sounding trumpets blaring stopped them before they could even think of a halfway decent spell to use.

"Sound the advance!" A familiar voice called down from above, and everyone looked up and caught sight of two figures sitting on broomsticks. One of them was clearly Mildred, a drawing pad stuck to her back, with her Pentangle's school cloak flapping gently in the breeze with her pointed witch's hat on her head.

Pippa smiled as she took in the little witch sitting on her broomstick, but her eyes couldn't help but take in the other figure, and Pippa frowned. The other woman was riding her broomstick like she had been born on one, much like other witches and wizards all over the world, and she was dressed in the classical dark cloak and hat of a true witch, but there was something old-fashioned about her appearance. She couldn't see her face, but she could the jaw length whitish hair even from where she was standing.

One of the Mildred duplicates came to stand close to Pippa.

"Is that the…well," Pippa wasn't sure how to say the question on her mind in case she sounded rude, but the duplicate didn't seem to care.

"Is that the real me?" the duplicate Mildred finished, and Pippa nodded. "Yes, she is."

"Who is that with her?"

The duplicate smiled. "You'll find out," she said, grinning the smug little grin of a child who was hiding a surprise and couldn't wait to reveal it. Pippa rolled her eyes at the girl, but the Great Wizard was getting frustrated. "Why can't you tell us?"

"Yes. We're getting tired of all these childish games-," Mrs Hallow said, agreeing with the Great Wizard but Pippa had the feeling the woman was getting more and more tired just being here at the school, like she had more important things to do with her time, and didn't care about what was in between.

"There is nothing childish about what the other duplicates of me and my real self-are doing, Mrs Hallow," the duplicate interrupted her, "Your Greatness. In a moment, it won't matter."

"What do you mean?" Hecate Hardbroom asked before she rolled her eyes. "You will tell us, I suppose?"

The duplicate Mildred sighed at the woman irritably. "There is a lot going on, Miss Hardbroom," the duplicate replied, "and besides, while myself and the other duplicates have all of the real Mildred Hubble's memories and experiences, meaning we are here in a way, we're not her. We don't know everything. We know only the basics; she set us a simple task, to keep Agatha occupied and to free the students and teachers. Nothing more. Don't blame us for not knowing everything our real self-does."

The knight's trumpets blared again, effectively putting an end to the little debate between the duplicate Mildred and Miss Hardbroom, and the army approached the school.

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I hope you've enjoyed it.


	20. Chapter 20 The Big Picture

We are nearly at the end of this story, only one more chapter to go. Please tell me what you think, also please tell me what you think about including the references to 'Bedknobs and Broomsticks' in this and the last chapter.

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The Big Picture.

As she sat alongside her many times great grandmother on their broomsticks, Mildred looked down at the advancing suits of armour approaching the school while the Magic Council, the teachers and the student bodies from both Cackles and Pentangles, and Agatha and her coven, Mildred was fighting her fatigue while trying to stay upright on her broomstick. She was using quite a bit of her magic keeping the knights and her duplicates in the real world, and she could feel the beads of sweat drip-drip-drip down her face as she struggled to maintain their presence. The combination of the current height she and Great+ Granny Hubble were hovering at while watching the scene and maintaining the drawings were making it harder for Mildred to concentrate on what was going on, but she could definitely feel pride in what she'd done, even if what she was doing was borderline dangerous to say nothing of being on a broomstick when she felt like she was on the point of falling off and cracking her head open like an egg.

For weeks she had been getting better and better at lifting her drawings off of the paper, but with so many forms conjured up to distract Agatha and her cronies, Mildred was really tired but ever since she had come up with this mad scheme - yeah, she knew her plan was mad, she didn't need Mirabelle's opinion to tell her that it was insane, but it was the only plan she had - she had known the risks.

She allowed her mind to wander as she and Mirabelle looked down at the advancing army of suits of armour towards the school.

When Mildred had been working with Miss Bluebell and the other enchantresses to help her learn how to use her new skills, she had been surprised when she had managed to lift the first drawing off a piece of paper. It was just one of her drawings of Tabby, and not a really good one, but as soon as the drawing had come off the paper the copy of Tabby had been so realistic and so detailed it made Mildred wonder if it actually mattered in the long run if the drawing needed to be well done or not. She'd also begun to wonder if the images she had of Tabby helped make the image what it was, but her later experiments had taught her that even a crude outline of her beloved familiar and not a true drawing could become Tabby, even down to the subtle colours in his fur.

This little talent had been such a surprise to the other enchantresses they had been lost for words, and they had needed to go away to find out if any other enchantress had been able to do this. They had come back alright and told her that while a few enchantresses who had been able to use art as part of their enchanting repertoire, they had had certifiable skills at what she could do, and because there were no known enchantresses with her skills they had no idea about how powerful she was in real life.

The most disappointing part about that was because she had no scale, she had no way of knowing what her limits were, and that worried her. The mystery of why there were no records about the ancient enchantresses who were powerful in their own rights was because the enchantresses had more or less kept their powers to themselves for reasons known only to themselves.

Among the Cackle's students, Mildred had just been a girl who was way out of her league, unable to fly a broomstick right, incapable of brewing a potion properly, totally inept at Spells, but ever since she had made the good decision to leave that damn castle and come here, to Pentangles, and learnt more about enchanting and the fact her artwork had a magical quality that no other witch (that anyone knew about today) could match, Mildred had begun feeling a confidence in herself that had not been there in herself since her first day at Cackles before she realised that it wouldn't be like it was in the Harry Potter books where anyone with magic and a wand could learn how to become a witch or wizard. As she looked down at her little-conjured army of empty knights armour who were armed to the teeth, Mildred couldn't help but feel a swoop of smugness which went hand in hand with her virtual exhaustion. No-one at Cackles had ever imagined she could do this, no-one had imagined she had the power to play with art on this level, so it had never occurred to them that she could create duplicates of herself and send them out in one big group. Mildred was pleased by her talents because it meant she could do something no one else could.

She imagined it would have only taken a small matter of time before she learnt of this little gift, but Mildred had been overwhelmed by the discovery when she'd found out about it. Miss Bluebell had reassured her it was okay to be scared, and even a little bit nervous about it since it was something not even the most powerful enchanters of the day knew, and there were few of them in the world today since the magical world had begun losing its need to have enchanters and enchantresses.

When Mildred had learnt she could lift her drawings off the paper, she had found out if she kept them in the real world without them being one-dimensional images for a while, or she brought out too many of them into the open then she would become very tired very quickly because she was using too much of her magic to keep the images in the real world. Miss Bluebell and the other enchantresses kept telling her to never push too much of her magic into the drawings unless she really wanted to find herself tired out. At first, Mildred had done just that when she had begun to experiment with her newfound ability, and she had enjoyed bringing one or two of her drawings out into the real world. But she had quickly felt how draining it could be, so she had dialled it down a bit, but with the enchantresses' help and experience, she had begun learning to 'exercise' her magic to help her cope.

And then the Cackle's fire had happened and the Great Wizard had brought the school here in his infinite wisdom. Mildred didn't really regret giving up some of her room for Maud, Enid, and Ethel, even if relations between her former friends was still strained, and not really likely to return to how it was in the past since Mildred had learnt more about the Witching world from Sapphire than she had ever done from Maud in the time she'd known her, and Ethel was still arrogant, but it hadn't really occurred to her that she might have made a mistake until it was too late.

Miss Bluebell had been encouraging her to study this little talent, sometimes by herself but sometimes under strict observation. Even Ethel had become 'curious' about her whereabouts though unlike Maud and Enid, who were more tactful, Ethel seemed more convinced that if she kept hounding her time and time again, pushing her face into Mildred's then she would talk. It had taken all of her control not to cast a spell on her there and then. But she had never cracked under the pressure, and Miss Bluebell had gotten into the habit of casting spells around to make sure Ethel wasn't lurking nearby.

Besides, Mildred wasn't really bothered. What could Ethel do about her skills in enchanting anyway? It wasn't as if the blonde would be able to snatch them from her, and even if she tried then she would get into a lot of trouble. Also, Ethel didn't have any aptitude with enchanting anyway, so Mildred wasn't worried. It was kind of a shame Ethel seemed to share that small-minded opinion enchanting had had its time, and should just be forgotten.

The enchantresses had told Mildred to always be cautious whenever she used her magic to lift off the pictures on a piece of paper, especially if it was a lot. The exercises she had given her magic had truly helped her, but Mildred hadn't really practised it for a while unless under the watchful eye of her favourite teacher, but those were still small experiments. Nothing this big.

Mildred closed her eyes and hoped that this wouldn't go on for much longer. But she needed the army to keep Agatha's coven busy - there was a chance some of them would run away, but even if they didn't the end result was the same. Mildred had no idea what Agatha had promised these witches, but even they must have known it was pointless since the woman was here to steal the powers from a young girl.

When Mirabelle had appeared in her bedroom, Mildred had had only a rough plan of what to do to deal with Agatha and her coven once and for all, and put them all away somewhere where no-one could get at them in case there was someone out there who could do what she could without the magical authorities being aware of them. Unfortunately, the critical element was too complex, too large and needed to be really detailed for it to work properly, so she had needed to draw out other things, further stressing her out as she got the real big picture drawn out. It was finished now. Mirabelle had waited patiently as she had drawn it out, sometimes sending little comments over her shoulders at the progress of the duplicates of herself - that was something Mildred was proud of, being able to animate other versions of herself, clones who could think, speak, and act in much the same way she could just to keep Agatha and Gullet busy.

Thinking of Miss Gullet made Mildred frown sadly, though any sympathy she might have towards the woman was limited; Miss Gullet had never been a nice person. Not only had she stolen the Spell's Science position away from Mr Rowan-Webb, turning him into a frog and leaving him on the doorstep of the Academy where the wizard's love, Miss Bat, also worked, which was just wrong in itself as well, but she had been mentally abusing the children in her classes.

Oh sure, the woman and the other witches on the staff would say that was how magic ought to be taught at school, but Mildred didn't really care about that. The code was so wrong about a number of points, and besides, she had the right to her own opinions no matter what that stupid bunch of rules said.

But why was Miss Gullet going along with this?

Was she only doing this to get revenge? That one seemed more likely, but for a woman who was smart, Miss Gullet was just like Agatha. She was too petty for words.

Oh well, after today it wouldn't make much difference one way or another. Even if Miss Gullet escaped, she had been seen by the Great Wizard himself, and hopefully, the old fool wasn't stupid enough to let such a dangerous woman escape, then the woman wouldn't get too far.

Shaking her head, Mildred closed her eyes and took out a piece of paper from the pocket of her cloak. It was time to move things forward, though she imagined only the non-magical students would get the joke, she also reached out with her magic towards the duplicates of herself.

They had done their bit.

Now it was time for them to return to where they had come from.

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With clanking steps, the army approached the school of Pentangles Academy, with each step they took pieces of fine metal armour clinked and rattled as the empty suits of armour slowly advanced towards the school. Agatha swung around to her coven, glaring at them angrily. She had needed years to find like-minded witches who disliked the code and wanted to live a free life without the wretched thing hanging over their broomsticks before she formed the coven with them to truly unite themselves in their defiance.

Their reasons for disliking the code were the usual reasons - many of them were not the eldest child in their families, or they were, but there was some issue with the code, or they just disliked the code in some manner, or they just wanted to have fun without the code lovers making life intolerable for them in the short term. Others just wanted to rebel against magical society, live life without needing every rule thrown back into their faces.

But while she herself had no love of the code, Agatha was perhaps one of the few members of the coven who knew it wasn't as easy as that, especially now; some of her coven sisters had been overjoyed when they had found out they would attack the Magic Council and the Great Wizard, believing if they did then they could finally do away with the code once and for all.

It wasn't going to happen like that.

Agatha had wanted her powers back and she had wanted to get her final revenge on her dear twin sister and make her pay for taking the Academy away from her. It wasn't the school that mattered to her, it was the title. She would have access to the younger generations of witchcraft and she could teach them so much about how to be cruel. Agatha knew she could have found a witch who was terminally ill, so it wouldn't matter if she had magic or not in the long run. Instead, she had decided to come to this dreary place and steal the magic off Mildred Hubble. Why would it matter? The girl wasn't even a witch and didn't come from a witch family.

And now this…

Agatha had never seen magic being wielded like this before in her life. She had grown up with magic all of her life. She had studied magic religiously as a child to prepare herself for her life as a witch, and if there was one thing she didn't like, then it was a mystery.

Besides, what she was seeing with the walking empty suits of armour was impossible, and while it was possible to send holograms of yourself off to wherever you wanted them to be, it was not possible for them to be completely solid like the duplicate Mildred's.

What in the name of Morgana was happening?

But she had no desire to find out.

"What are you waiting for?" She shouted at the frightened coven sisters. "You are witches. You are not going to be taken in by a schoolgirl who isn't even a real witch!"

Ah, you have to love magical pride, Agatha thought to herself gleefully as some of the witches who had come with her sneered at the reminder that Mildred was a girl who wasn't even meant to be there but the fools in this ridiculous school considered her to be a witch. She also loved their opinion magic should only be exclusive, though the code could have been done away with.

It took Agatha a few more moments of shooting at the others, which was her usual way of rallying her troops before they took action, but they were witches - they knew that not everyone was kind, so they knew to expect it since the traditional attitude of a witch was a woman who was cruel and malicious at times. They had relatives in their own families who regularly screamed and shouted at them because it was part of the code, for witches to be traditional.

The witches following Agatha Cackle instantly began throwing spell after spell at the suits of armour, but the magic just washed over the armoured carapaces as if they were blunt arrows raining down on them. The use of magic instantly made the teachers and students along with the Great Wizard and his entourage from the Magic council take cover instantly. The potion used to stun and immobilise them and stop their magic was still working on them, though in a few minutes their powers would be restored to them, for the moment they couldn't risk being hit with a spell. The conjured suits just advanced closer to the school. Mirabelle turned to her many time's great-granddaughters' and saw the girl was only just sitting on her broomstick. Mirabelle was amazed by the scale of what her girl had done, for she did consider Mildred to be her girl through and through; she was incredible being able to do this, and she was pleased that the Hubble attitude of kindness and decency lived on in this young lass.

" _ **TREGUNA MEKOIDES TRECORUM SATIS DEE!**_ " The suits of armour began to chant in deep, booming voices that took the witches and wizards by surprise, making them jump in shock at the chanting that echoed through the air like a dragon roaring a mile away. " _ **TREGUNA MEKOIDES TRECORUM SATIS DEE. TREGUNA MEKOIDES TRECORUM SATIS DEE. TREGUNA MEKOIDES TRECORUM SATIS DEE.**_ "

The children and adults from the magical world were surprised when the kids from the non-magical world started to laugh hysterically, but what was even funnier was they didn't get the joke at all. Miss Pentangle, who had seen the movie in question, chuckle a little bit as she caught the joke. Oh, that girl..she was unbelievable.

Karen and Lexi also chuckled at the reference, while all the other teachers looked a bit bemused, though the duplicate Mildred's were clearly enjoying it. The duplicate of Mildred closest to the Pentangles students laughed alongside the non-magical students, making Maud and Enid looked on at her and the other non-magical students warily. "What's so funny?" Maud asked.

"Ask the real us to show you the movie 'Bedknobs and Broomsticks,'" the duplicate chuckled, much to the other girls' mutual confusion. Meanwhile, the duplicate who was closest to the teachers and the entourage from the Magic Council was also chuckling alongside Miss Miller, Pippa, and Lexi before she and the other duplicates stopped chuckling.

"We have to go," the duplicate said to the entourage.

"Go?" Mrs Hallow repeated, glaring at the duplicate. "Go where? You aren't going anywhere."

"Too late," the duplicate replied nonchalantly, and then with an effect that reminded the non-magical students and Miss Miller of something solid being sucked up by a vacuum cleaner, the duplicate Mildred's flew up into the air as indiscernible shades towards the real Mildred, who was holding up a piece of paper and put it away.

The army moved on, still chanting as they marched on remorselessly towards the school. Meanwhile up in the air, Mildred was just tucking away the piece of paper containing the drawings into the pocket of her cloak with a sigh of relief, swearing she would never ever use this many conjurations in one go until she was a lot older. There were still the suits of armour down there, but with the duplicate hers out of the way, she felt a lot better now than she had a few moments ago, but she had become so tired and her other selves had done their jobs. The good news was as soon as Agatha ordered her coven to launch their spells against the suits, the others had taken cover so they weren't in danger of being injured.

But the army was still marching remorselessly onwards, none of the spells making a dent before some of Agatha's coven realised they were just wasting their time and magic.

One of the witches glanced at her friends. "I think we should go," she said. Nothing today was going right. It was time to get out while they still could - sooner or later, the Great Wizard would be freed, but she was no longer afraid of him. She was scared of this girl who was seemingly able to throw up conjurations as easily as someone could blink. The coven witches prided themselves on being knowledgeable and powerful with magic. They were used to cheating to overpower their enemies who always played by those stupid rules But now they were faced with something that was completely beyond their experience, the coven witches were frightened. They were out of their depth, and they didn't like it, but instead of trying to work out a way out of it, quite a few of them were mentally saying "Get out, NOW!"

The witch who had spoken wasn't surprised to see pride still shining in the face of her neighbour, but it was a little bit spoilt by the same feeling she was feeling herself. "We can beat this kid," the other witch said.

"How, we haven't managed it so far?"

Agatha was overhearing what her subordinates were saying, and she was furious at what she was hearing. They were supposed to be witches, so why hadn't they tried to harm the little brat who'd done all this? How hard could it be for them to do that? Agatha turned to face Gullet, looking deeply into the other woman's eyes, cursing her lack of powers. The problem of dealing with subordinates without magic was you were powerless to actually control them and get them to do what you wanted.

Why was she surrounded by idiots all the time?

Gullet had that same clear uncertainty in her eyes as Agatha turned to her. The older woman snapped at her. "It's Mildred Hubble. Curse her, Gullet. Curse her. Knock her off her broomstick, and then you can compel her to give me her powers."

She wasn't going to give up, not now. She needed to have her powers back, and now, after seeing what Mildred could do, she was sure she herself could do it herself.

Gullet looked seriously into Agatha's eyes, seriously beginning to doubt the older woman's sanity now. But she knew she couldn't run away, not now. She was too invested in what Agatha was doing, and it wasn't as though she could find work anywhere else again now. She had been blacklisted for what she had done to that stupid wizard thirty years ago.

But Gullet didn't think it would be as simple as Agatha seemed to think - if she could create copies of herself and create all of these empty knights in armour, then what else could the girl do? Still, if she were injured then she might get her own revenge on the girl…

Gullet flicked her fingers towards Mildred, but she hadn't expected the strange witch who was flying alongside Mildred on the other broomstick to see her move, but then Gullet hadn't realised that the witch had been keeping an eye on the coven witches in case one of them tried to attack Mildred from the ground.

Mirabelle was hardly surprised when Mildred jumped in shock when she moved suddenly to stop the spell suddenly thrown up at her. "What was that?" the girl asked.

Mirabelle glanced at her in concern. "A spell, they want to bring you down."

Mildred closed her eyes. She had had enough of this. "I've had enough of this. I wanted the knights to frighten some of the coven witches away," she confessed, "but I'm getting tired."

Mirabelle looked at her deeply concerned. She could see the fatigue written all over Mildred's face, and while she was proud of the girl, Mirabelle couldn't help but feel annoyed that Mildred had risked her life in such a manner.

"Let's go down, then we can finish it," Mirabelle said gently.

Mildred nodded. The two Hubble witches slowly descended to the ground, and as soon as they were firmly on the ground Mildred took out the drawing pad and opened it. Everyone was surprised when they saw the picture of Cackle's Academy but it wasn't Cackles as it was right now. When the students of the academy had left Cackles, they had left behind a burnt-out ruin, with the walls around the main section of the school and a few of the towers blackened with soot, but this picture showed Cackles in its prime, without any sign of fire damage or even any evidence there had been a fire at all.

Agatha glared at Mildred, glancing at the picture briefly before dismissing it. "Tired of hiding, Mildred?'

Mildred sighed. "Someone wants to steal your magic, would you really want to hang around? Besides, in the Witches' code, it says witches help themselves, and that's what I've done."

Agatha sneered at the girl. "You are not a witch. You are not from a witching family."

Mirabelle had had just about enough of this. "You're wrong."

Agatha glared at the adult witch standing next to Mildred, her mind mentally going through the faces of the various witches she had met over the years but she didn't recognise the woman. "And who are you?" she snapped.

"I am Mirabelle, Mirabelle Hubble. Mildred is my descendent."

Whatever anyone had expected it was not that, and with the still advancing knights in armour approaching the evil witches, the coven were tense already and Agatha was hopeful one of them used their common sense and restrain Mildred, and hopefully she could finally get her hands on Mildred's magic but this news caught everyone by surprise.

"What?" Agatha cackled in disbelief. "Where did you find her Mildred?"

Mirabelle and Mildred stiffened with anger at the question, but the older Hubble witch held up one of her hands and the other crossed her chest, "I, Mirabelle Hubble, do hereby swear upon the Witches' code I am telling the truth about myself and my descendant, Mildred Hubble. So mote it be."

When she was finished with the oath on the code, Mirabelle's body glowed with magic, sealing it and proving to all that she was telling the truth since swearing on the code was dangerous since one wrong word could get you killed.

Mildred sighed under her breath, wishing that Mirabelle hadn't done that even if it cleared up the slight mystery of who her ancestor was, though it didn't explain why she was here in this century she pushed that to the side and focused on the present. She concentrated very hard and focused on the coven witches with Agatha and the knights in armour.

The coven witches suddenly felt odd, they all felt a slight pulling sensation on their chests, spreading outwards and it began in their feet and in their fingers. One of the witches lifted up her fingers so she could see what was wrong, and she screamed in shock, alerting the others in the crowd and her own sisters who were busy trying to ignore the dizziness they were feeling themselves.

The rest of the coven, including Agatha and Miss Gullet, looked at their own hands and watched in horror as their fingers began to….. dissolve into wisps of dark smoke that drifted into the drawing.

"What are you doing to us?!" Miss Gullet screamed as she and the rest of the coven were being pulled into the picture, their arms being stretched like taffy, and yet their hands, fingers, wrists were becoming smoky, ghostlike.… all sucked into the drawing.

"I can lift pictures out of drawings," Mildred admitted, "but I can also put things into drawings. I was supposed to be showing my talents off to Mrs Hallow and a few others today, but when you turned up….," she trailed off. "I thought it would be the best prison for you, Agatha, a prison where you could finally find a sort of peace. You've always wanted Cackle's Academy, well you've got your chance to be headmistress. In this drawing you don't need to worry about the code, you won't have anyone like me getting in the way. But you will be trapped. No hope, no rescue. You will have your coven with you, but that's about it."

Agatha and her coven screamed out curses and threats towards the younger witch, but Mildred let those same words wash off her. "It's no good threatening me, Agatha. Besides, did you really think you'd get away with any of this? You just admitted to burning down a school, endangering kids, you've also attacked the Great Wizard. The Great Wizard! Did you honestly think he wouldn't get his powers back after that potion wore off? Even you and your coven can't be that stupid!"

Pippa and the teachers and the entourage of the Great Wizard knew that Mildred had a point. The Great Wizard and the council would not allow such an attack to go unpunished, they all knew that. The Great Wizard didn't like it when someone attacked him.

Mirabelle looked down at her small descendent in amazement, she had never heard of this particular power before and seeing it used like this… It was incredible for her, she had been terrified for her family's history ever since she'd realised what was going to happen if she transferred her magic and the magic of over twelve generations to that Founding Stone. But seeing for herself what Mildred was capable of reassured Mirabelle even if she was a bit nervous about what could happen because Mildred had used her drawing as a prison. She only hoped the girl didn't just keep the coven imprisoned in the drawing forever, not when the Great Wizard had become involved, but she didn't know what was going to happen. Besides she couldn't be here to find out, though she guessed the Great Wizard and the Magic Council of this century would want to speak to her about her presence and her family history.

Agatha and her coven gave one last scream of anger and defiance as she and her coven were pulled into the picture, and their features became more one-dimensional as they themselves became drawings.

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Mildred looked at the now still army as they surrounded the Cackles-Pentangles students and staff, and the entourage of the Great Wizard and she smiled at them - just because they had been conjured by her after she'd lifted them off the piece of paper she'd drawn them on that didn't mean she didn't see them as people, though others would not agree with her, she didn't care about what others thought about that.

"Thank you, sirs," she said gratefully, holding up a piece of paper while the knights saluted her. Unlike with Agatha and her coven who had been hard to draw into the picture, the knights were just animated drawings that had been lifted off. That made them easier to put back into the picture.

When the knights were back in the drawing, Mildred sighed in relief and took a few deep breaths - it had taken a large amount of effort to take them all out of the picture and put them alongside her other selves. She was just grateful that it was over, but as she looked up and saw the faces of the teachers and the entourage of the Great Wizard, she knew it was not over yet.

She sighed, things were not easy, were they?


	21. Chapter 21 End of Term

Awww, I feel sad.

This story has been part of my everyday life, and now it's finished.

Enjoy, leave some feedback and give me suggestions please of some other Worst Witch stories within reason.

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End of Term.

Mildred was taking a nighttime walk through the school - like Cackles, Pentangles had a curfew, but as long as she paid attention to the night bell she wouldn't in any trouble. She had been doing this a lot recently, leaving her bedroom and taking nightly walks, but she had so much going through her mind but luckily she'd been able to concentrate on her lessons.

End of term was coming up, fast, and the end of term exams were creeping up on the school - Mildred felt moderately confident with the exams that Pentangles would be hosting than she would have been if she were still in Cackles, and everyone was stressed out revising for them (Mildred included, but she was taking this little break to clear her head,) including the kids from the magical families. The girls from Cackles were the most stressed out because they had come to Pentangles and were now having to learn different forms of magic, so instead of just needing to worry about potions and spells they had to worry about other fields of magical study.

She had felt a small amount of sadistic pleasure watching everyone like Ethel Hallow have problems with magic, but after a time it had become rather dull to watch Ethel struggle with the different type of magic taught here at Pentangles.

Mildred knew how they felt; she had had problems getting her head around potions and spells when she had first arrived at Cackles, but when she had arrived at Pentangles, she had been over the moon when she had learnt there were lessons where the subject was taught to the students instead of the students already knew most of the techniques of the class beforehand.

But the end of year tests was causing stress for everyone. It had been a few weeks since Agatha and her coven had attacked the school, and she had imprisoned them in that picture of Cackles Academy, and yet the entire school had returned to normality though there was a growing interest in enchanting as a result, delighting Miss Bluebell, who was over the moon with the influx of interest. Mildred wondered how long it would last since many of the students, witches mostly, gave up because they lacked the gift, but it didn't matter.

Mildred had her mind on other things, but Agatha was featured in many of them. She let her mind wander to the aftermath of the attack..

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"We found out I could lift off pictures out of my drawings shortly after I learnt that I could make them move," Mildred explained to the group crammed into the Headmistress' office - she had never seen it so full before. Many of the Pentangles and Cackles staff were in the office out of curiosity, though Miss Pentangle and Miss Cackle had told them to attend to the rest of the students.

Mildred wasn't sure whether to be flattered or concerned so many people wanted to learn more about the strange power and talent she had found out about, but she was grateful that she knew about it because it could have taken years or never to unlock it at Cackles, assuming she'd been able to stay considering how she seemed to lurch from one disaster to the next.

"We decided, Miss Bluebell and the other enchanters who had come to review my talent and even help me get better at using it, to keep it under wraps until you could see it. I just wanted to improve the gift before I showed it to you," Mildred said to Mrs Hallow, "but you've already seen it."

The Great Wizard looked sternly at her (even now after finding out she did have magical heritage, the old mage still looked at her with a purplish colour to his face, but it was lessened slightly because he knew she had magical heritage), "Yes, but why did you send those copies of yourself, and why did you send that army of empty knights?"

Mildred sighed mentally. She took the picture of Cackles which had the coven Agatha had brought to Cackles out and showed it to them. "The answer is right here. It took me a long time to draw this picture, Your Greatness, and I knew that with the coven looking for me because they thought I would just hand my powers over to Agatha without question, they could burst into my bedroom at any time. I sent those duplicates of myself to keep them busy. I just needed to buy time for myself."

"What about those knights?" Miss Hardbroom asked. "What was the point behind those, Mildred Hubble?"

Mildred felt rather than saw her ancestor stiffen at the tone of the potions mistress, but she got in before spells could fly. "It was to give me more time, I needed to get close to Agatha, but I couldn't do that without someone noticing me get close. It was a risk, I know, but I wanted to get everyone in one place so I could put them in the picture."

"What was it those knights were chanting?"

Mildred smiled as she recalled those fun times when she had been a little kid, watching Angela Lansbury who played Miss Price and David Tomlinson as Professor Brown and those kids, Carrie, Charlie, and Paul go on a string of magical adventures, like to Portobello road and the Isle of Naboombu, only to animate those suits of armour, and old soldier costumes and make them fight the Germans in the Second World War.

She shook her head and concentrated on the discussion at hand. "Just something I saw out of a movie a few times during my childhood, I thought it appropriate," she said.

Neither Mrs Hallow or the Great Wizard wanted to go into too much detail after that, both of them knew enough about the non-magical culture to know what a movie was, but neither had any interest in that world. It was similar to how the rest of the magical world saw that world; it was like being in a glass house watching the rest of the world fly past, being aware but never a part of it.

Mrs Hallow looked seriously at her - Mildred wished she knew the woman well enough to know what was running through her mind, but after a few minutes of trying hard to work out what was going through her brain, and Mildred was stumped. "And this is an enchanting talent?"

"Yes."

"And you didn't think it better to contact other authorities to arrive at the school and deal with Agatha Cackle and her coven?"

"I didn't know how to contact the authorities, and I didn't know of any authorities that would get here in time," Mildred replied as politely as she was able so then she could give the best impression to this woman. "And besides, Agatha would have found a way of escaping eventually; she's done it before, and she burnt down a school along the way, endangering dozens of lives."

"What made you realise that she had burnt down Cackles, Mildred?" Miss Cackle asked but the painful way she asked that question was heard by everyone despite her best efforts.

Mildred turned to the elderly witch, realising that this was the first time she had actually spoken to the headmistress after leaving Cackles. "I didn't," she said simply.

"Excuse me, but didn't you believe she had burnt down the castle?" One of the council witches asked.

"I guessed," Mildred clarified, "it was a last minute thing. It was just a suspicion I had when I saw the coven here, but.. I dunno what made me think it was Agatha, but she just attacked Pentangles shortly after Cackles was burnt down. It was just a hunch."

"A hunch? A witch does not make hunches, Mildred Hubble," Mrs Hallow remarked, and this time Mildred didn't even bother trying to restrain Mirabelle's outrage.

"Why not?" Mirabelle asked curiously. "Everyone makes hunches. Why should witches and wizards make an exception?"

The Great Wizard privately thought that this woman had a point, but he wanted to know more about her. "I'm sorry, but could you tell us more about yourself and why you're here?"

Mildred was pleased that the subject had moved on a little bit since it meant everyone would stop asking her questions.

"My name is Mirabelle Hubble. I am one of Mildred's ancestors, and I have travelled forwards in time to see the future of my family. My coven had set up a school in a cave system," Mirabelle replied, "but along the way, our Founding Stone lost its magic, and the ice was settling in. I don't think I need to tell you what that means."

None of the adult witches and wizards said anything, but they exchanged some deeply seriously looks. They knew precisely what would happen if a Founding Stone completely lost its magic, and what the effects would be.

"I tried everything while my sisters fled with the students we had, while a few were frozen by the ice. Some told me I should flee as well, that it was hopeless, but I couldn't," Mirabelle's voice became wistful and she wondered what had happened to the coven, and wondered if some part of it survived in this day and age, "I tried to offer my own magic up to restore the coven, but it wasn't enough. The stone wanted more magic, and then it struck me that it would accept my magic, but only if I offered up the magic of my daughter, her daughter, and her daughter, and the daughters to follow."

Mirabelle looked down at her hands - it wasn't good etiquette to not look into the Great Wizard's eyes when she was speaking, but she needed to tell this part of the story, get it out of the way, but she needed to marshal her thoughts - and spoke clearly after a moment, looking back up into the Wizard's eyes.

"It was the only plan I had, and I managed to get the Founding Stone as far from the caves as I could - I didn't want the ice to set in as I worked, but when I got it far away from the caves, I found I just couldn't do it," Mirabelle looked down in shame at her own weakness before she turned to face Mildred, who was looking at her with sadness. Mirabelle wished the girl wouldn't look at her like that. It was like looking into a mirror, and worse seeing the last twelve generations of Hubble women who had not had magic, blaming her and using this girl as their avatar to make it clear to her what they thought about her actions..

"I couldn't render my entire family powerless," Mirabelle said, "so I decided to use magic one more time to help me make my decision an easier one; I had a fragment of the Mists of Time with me, bottled and compressed to prevent the frost from contaminating it, and I used it to travel into the future to see how my family was doing."

"You realise you were breaking some strict rules in the Witches' code?" The Great Wizard felt he had to add.

Mildred wished he hadn't said that, but Mirabelle nodded. "I did, Your Greatness. But at the time, and now, I feel no regret. I had no intention of going through with the plan until I saw for myself what my family were doing with themselves; if they were happy, then I would go through with the plan, but if not…"

Mildred's face crinkled curiously, wondering what else her ancestor had in mind for solving this Founding Stone problem, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to know.

"When I arrived, I learnt my descendants had done alright for themselves, and that Mildred was the first magical Hubble for centuries," Mirabelle's face lit up like a Christmas tree.

Mildred smiled back though she hoped that Mirabelle did not say anything about the way she had been expelled from Cackles Academy. She wasn't in the mood to talk about that depressing chapter in her life, especially now. To her, it was in the past. No time travel pun intended.

"What do you plan on doing now?" Mrs Hallow asked.

"I've still got some of the Mists of Time fragment. I was planning on using that to return to my home time," Mirabelle replied, but the cool way she replied told Mildred that she too didn't like the other woman and was only being polite to her for courtesy's sake. Mirabelle was scoring more points with Mildred, but the younger Hubble hoped and wished that her ancestor didn't make some stupid mistake that would make it harder for her to persuade Mrs Hallow to change her mind concerning the matter of enchanting.

In the meantime, Mildred turned to face the others in the room, hoping none of them planned to stop her. Mirabelle Hubble was her ancestor, and if anything happened to her then who knew what would happen to all the other Hubble's, including her and her mother? Mildred had seen enough time travel films, and Doctor Who to know interfering in time was a bad thing.

The Great Wizard glanced from one face to face around him and he said what was on the minds of everyone. "Very well, we will not stop you," he said in that same pompous manner Mildred found irritating.

Mirabelle smiled at him, though Mildred and everyone else could tell that she would leave no matter what anyone said. "Thank you, Your Greatness," she replied, saying his name as if she was only humouring him. "But do you mind if I give something to Mildred?"

Mirabelle didn't even bother waiting for a reply in the negative, instead she reached inside her robes and pulled out a book the size of the old bible that Mildred's Granny Hubble owned but she knew that this book was not a bible, though judging by the gasps around them it may as well have the same reverence as an ancient bible or work of art.

"Is that..?" Miss Hardbroom whispered.

"The Hubble family grimoire," Mirabelle replied, confirming the suspicions and guesses in everyone's mind. "This book has been passed down from one generation to the next, and it contains all of our history. I was, as the Head Witch of the family, going to give it to my own daughter, but since our family will lose its magic for twelve generations, it will fall to you, Mildred."

Mildred looked at the grimoire in amazement and to the surprise of the Cackle's teachers, who had been more than a little used and exasperated by her ignorance of the world, she didn't ask about the grimoire and what it meant. She didn't need too. When Mildred had first come to Pentangles, she hadn't just been encouraged to study the Witches code to learn a bit more about the culture and be more prepared in future, she had also been encouraged by her tutor to learn more about magical lore.

She knew about grimoires.

This book didn't just contain all of the recorded history of her family, from births to deaths, to the lives of the Hubble witches. It would also contain the individual traditions of the Hubble family, which was the norm for witching families who followed different beliefs and traditions. Mildred had been tempted to make her own grimoire, and make it out to be a kind of diary detailing her life as a witch, but now she didn't need too since this was the real deal.

If she took this book then she would not just learn more about her family as witches, but she could learn more about her family's deepest traditions which had been lost, until now, for centuries. She would also learn more about witching traditions and lore so then she wouldn't trip up over them anymore.

"Take it Mildred, it's yours," Mirabelle whispered.

Mildred bit her lip and she reached out and took it. The magic of the book would refuse to let anyone other than someone of her bloodline from touching it, but what if the magic of the book rejected her for some reason? Still, she had to try… Her fingers lightly brushed the leather of the book, and she jumped slightly when she felt the magic of the book brush over her, but it didn't reject her outright but out of reflex Mildred back peddled. She wasn't used to this kind of thing.

Mirabelle smiled at her kindly. "Don't worry about it, my child. It's only the magic of the book, its just accepting you. Try again."

Mildred did so, but this time there was no hesitation. She took the book only this time she could feel the magic wash over her, and it accepted her. She took a deep breath and held it in her hands. This time the magic of the book reminded her of the same feeling she felt whenever she physically held Tabby.

Indeed this book felt as though it were a purring cat.

Mirabelle's smile hadn't faded. "The grimoire has accepted you," she said simply.

"She's definitely a Hubble," Mildred heard Miss Hardbroom whisper to Miss Cackle, and Mildred glared at her for ruining the moment; she had spent months in the company of Ethel Hallow, and that girl could give out a glare that could wither the eyeballs. Here she was, accepting something precious to her family, and this woman could not keep her mouth shut.

Mirabelle also sent a look in Miss Hardbroom's direction, but she didn't say a word. Instead, she looked back at Mildred. "I think I'm ready now, but before I go, could you please tell me something?"

Mildred leaned in closer. "Anything," she said to the older witch.

"Our family," the sudden pain in Mirabelle's eyes was terrible to see and it hurt the young witch to see her ancestor so upset even if she was now aware her family would be alright in the long run, "are they happy?"

Mildred smiled. "My mother, aunt and gran are all happy," she reassured her ancestor, "I don't know how they adjusted after you restored that stone, but we are all okay."

"Good. I'm glad," Mirabelle smiled and she looked warmly at Mildred. "I'm so thankful for that. I would have been happy even if magic had never been restored to our family, but just knowing they were alright…"

"I know," Mildred said, knowing what was on the older witch's mind.

Mirabelle stood up and reached into her robes to take out a bottle that looked to Mildred like it had been made by a glassblower who had made a bottle right the first time around, but had continued adding uneven layers to the glass. Inside contained a greyish, silvery substance..

Before she opened the bottle, Mirabelle turned to Mildred once more. "It's good to know our future is in safe hands," she said.

She opened the bottle and began chanting a spell under her breath, letting the fragment of the mist escape the bottle as she spun around on the spot. When the mist cleared, Mirabelle Hubble was gone.

Mildred sighed sadly as she hugged the grimoire to her chest. She knew no-one here would try to take it off her, it was hers and part of her family's, and no-one in their right mind would want to be injured because they could not keep their hands to themselves.

"Miss Hubble, I came to this school to investigate claims to a 'gift' that you had for enchanting," Mrs Hallow's voice broke through her moment, completely uncaring what had just happened, what it meant to her. "I did not come here to converse with some witch from the past."

"But you did see my gift, Mrs Hallow," Mildred replied as politely as she could while she struggled to keep her dislike for the woman out of her voice.

"Yes, I did," the woman replied, completely forgetting about the others in the office. "But I stand by my beliefs that enchanting will not become a standard subject at other magical schools."

Mildred blinked in surprise, stunned that the woman would make such a snap judgement at once. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Miss Bluebell look down, upset. That made her angry. Miss Bluebell was, in Mildred's eyes, the perfect teacher - she was nothing like Hardbroom and Gullet who were both so intolerant to anything outside their little world. Miss Bluebell had dreamt about enchanting becoming part of the usual school curriculum for years like many other enchantresses, and this arrogant woman had basically shot those dreams down without even batting an eyelash.

"May I ask why?" Mildred asked.

Mrs Hallow ignored the question and turned to Miss Pentangle, who was looking back at her with a sizeable amount of controlled loathing.

"I think I have wasted enough time here, Miss Pentangle."

With that, she lifted up a hand and used a transportation spell to leave.

Mildred stared at the spot the woman had been standing in total disbelief. But after a second she found she was trembling with anger. That woman had just left without answering her question and she had called what happened at Pentangles a waste of time?!

God, it was no wonder Ethel was such a messed up kid. For months Mildred had wondered what had driven Ethel Hallow to be such a miserable individual, but now she knew and she actually found herself feeling sorry for her. Who wouldn't be miserable and attention seeking if they had that bitch as a mother?!

Mildred didn't usually swear, mentally or verbally, but she was so sick and tired of arrogant witches and wizards.

She turned to Miss Bluebell, who was looking heart broken. "I'm sorry, Miss Bluebell."

The enchanting teacher looked up at her, and gave a watery smile; she looked like she was about to start crying but didn't want to in the current company she was in. "It's not your fault Mildred, we should have realised Mrs Hallow wouldn't change her mind."

To the surprise of Mildred and Miss Bluebell, the Great Wizard stepped forwards. "If it would do any good, I will fight her opinion on the matter of enchanting," he said, "my family have had enchanters in it and they would be turning in their graves if I didn't try to uphold our traditions."

Mildred was a little surprised by the admission that the Great Wizard himself had enchanters in his family, but she imagined it made sense since she knew that many magical families had that talent at some stage but had eventually lost it because they'd exhausted it. Maybe that was Mrs Hallows problem, she was jealous of anyone who could use enchanting and she couldn't?

"Thank you, Your Greatness," Miss Bluebell whispered, smiling back at the wizard even as she came to stand next to Mildred and put an arm around the girl's shoulders, but as Mildred looked into her face she could see Miss Bluebell didn't look too optimistic about the chances of the Wizard overturning the decisions of Mrs Hallow, and it made her wonder just who was in charge of the council, or whether he just let everyone carry on the way they wanted.

But then again he could do something..

Mildred loved enchanting, and she didn't want it to die out. And she guessed that if she had her own way, Mrs Hallow would have the entire subject of enchanting - books, scrolls, pictures, stories - all gathered up and destroyed without a word.

After that Mildred spoke to some of the council members. Many of them were a little more open minded and even personable than Mrs Hallow, but while she was speaking to them Mildred got the impression a few of them had had the same opinion the 'vaunted' Head of Education had about enchanting, but they didn't dismiss it like she did.

They were openly impressed by what she had done, even if a few frowned on her using so much of her magic, but they had asked her a few questions about her talents in enchanting before they had left. Mildred watched them leave the office using transportation spells, but she wondered what they would do with her answers..

She had learnt the hard way that sometimes witches and wizards said and did something one minute and then turned around and did something completely different.

Mildred sighed and turned to face Miss Pentangle, realising she had been hugging the Hubble family grimoire to her chest the whole time. "Is it okay if I leave now, Miss Pentangle?"

The pink-clad headmistress nodded, but she didn't look happy and she glanced sadly at Miss Bluebell - the headmistress had been hoping for good news today, not bad news, but it was clear on her face that she wasn't particularly surprised. "Yes, Mildred and thank you for what you've done today," she whispered, clearly trying to find the energy to speak loudly.

Mildred felt pity for the headmistress - her school had just been invaded and she had been forced to watch as her students had been held captive and she couldn't do anything about it. But there was nothing she could do, so she walked out of the office.

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The grimoire was in the bedroom she shared with Maud, Enid, and Ethel, and she had begun to read it - Mildred wasn't a big reader, she had read books, but the grimoire..it reminded her of those fantasy novels she had read as a kid, but the grimoire was a bit more personal to her, well it was personal.

Enid and Maud had been amazed - they had seen their own family grimoires in the past, but because they were not the Head Witches of their families they couldn't take them out of their homes.

But whenever she was not revising for her exams or with Miss Bluebell, Mildred would be reading her grimoire and trying to learn a bit more about her family history. She had learnt that several of her family members hadn't really gotten good results at school, but when they were doing whatever they did out of school, they were exceptional.

Thinking of Miss Bluebell made her sigh sadly. The poor teacher had been heartbroken because of Mrs Hallow, but she still gave it all in lessons and she had still been enthusiastic about giving Mildred private tuition. It seemed that while she was sad about the lack of endorsement from Mrs Hallow, Miss Bluebell was hopeful that the woman's influence did not spread outwards to the real world.

Mildred hoped so as well.

Miss Bluebell had been both happy with what she had done to help save the school, but she had mothered her for an hour, telling her she had taken a terrible risk conjuring all of those figures. Mildred had asked Miss Bluebell why Mrs Hallow had left and said she wasn't changing her mind about enchanting and Miss Bluebell had told her she didn't know, and when the young witch had asked her about the Great Wizard's promise, Miss Bluebell had made it clear she wasn't going to expect a miracle.

Not very encouraging from a woman who was usually optimistic.

Mildred sighed wearily as she took a look around herself - she wanted to get to bed, exams would be starting soon and she wanted to get some rest and perhaps even pour over her books and notes that had been taken during lessons to get everything fixed in her mind. No sooner had the thought materialised in her brain than Miss Hardbroom materialise near her.

"Mildred," Miss Hardbroom greeted her in that usual slow, calm manner like she was a dangerous predator waiting to pounce.

"Miss Hardbroom," Mildred greeted. She had been purposefully avoiding many of the teachers from Cackles, not an easy task in some cases, but thankfully the teachers had kept the distance either because they were trying to put names to faces, or because some of them didn't want Pentangles and Cackles to mix, but Mildred wasn't sure. She didn't care, either.

"I was surprised when I was standing there, bound and hopeless, and yet you were able to turn the tables on Agatha Cackle," Miss Hardbroom's tone was more….normal like a real human being for a change.

Mildred didn't know what to say, so she kept silent though she did wonder if there was a point to this.

"It was..impressive," Miss Hardbroom stumbled across the last word.

Mildred was getting bored of the entire conversation, but she decided to be polite. "Thank you, Miss Hardbroom," she replied, hoping that she could get away from the woman before curfew.

"Mildred," Miss Hardbroom began, and the girl was surprised by how….nervous the adult witch was beginning to sound, "I wish we had discovered this gift together, at Cackles."

"When would we have discovered it, Miss Hardbroom? Cackles doesn't have an enchanting class and besides, no-one had any interest in my artwork. The only times anyone spoke about it was when you told me it was not allowed to have pictures up in my room, which was a lie since many of the other students had pictures up, of their families and of holidays, on their walls. The other time was when my room was trashed after that disaster with the globe. I dunno and frankly I don't care who those witches responsible for the destruction was, it was months ago," Mildred replied quietly before she shook her head, "And besides, what would you have done if you had found out I could manipulate those pictures in the first place? Miss Bluebell has been bringing in enchantresses to help me learn more about this gift, so don't take this the wrong way but I doubt either you or Miss Cackle would even know where to start."

Mildred sighed. "What is all this about, Miss Hardbroom? Ever since you arrived, I've been catching sight of your looks of regret during lessons, assemblies and at dinner. Does it have anything to do with you meeting my mum, and telling her about your brother's death? She told me," the girl clarified when the potions mistress stiffened noticeably.

"I see," Miss Hardbroom replied, at a loss of what to say to that.

"I'd discounted my father as the source of my magic a long time before the globe, Miss Hardbroom, but at the time it was logical to assume he had something to do with my magic," Mildred went on, "but when Maud and Enid told me that witches get their power from their mothers, and wizards get their powers from their fathers, I stopped that line of thought. But I have wondered. I know who my real dad is, but I don't know if I'll ever meet him."

"I am sorry for that night, Mildred. I had no right to speak to your mother in that manner," the teacher apologised, but Mildred had no way of knowing if the woman was being sincere, but she wasn't going to pry.

The curfew bell sounded, and Mildred couldn't help but think 'saved by the bell' since she was getting bored of this conversation. Besides, in her mind, it was a bit late for Miss Hardbroom to try to form a relationship or whatever the woman was thinking about; she had tried to get on the woman's good side, and it had failed because of her attitude and bad manners.

"I'd better go, curfew is in a few minutes," Mildred said.

"Do you wish for me to send you to your room?"

"Thank you but no, I'd like to walk back," Mildred smiled at the woman, hoping that she would get the hint that she didn't really want anything to do with her.

Miss Hardbroom nodded, and as Mildred looked deeply into the woman's dark eyes she could see that same regret there as she did before the start of the Spelling Bee competition that had happened only a few months ago, but after everything that had happened felt like it had happened a few years ago.

Mildred turned and walked away, leaving Miss Hardbroom to her thoughts.

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Ever since that visit to the Hubble's abode and the relocation from Cackles to Pentangles, Miss Hardbroom had been wondering how she could approach Mildred Hubble again.

Of all the people she had met, Mildred Hubble was one of the few people that had Hecate Hardbroom think. On the outside, the girl was incredibly problematic, and even when she saw the girl again, Hecate had heard that while the girl made some mistakes in various subjects none of the teachers punished her for them unless they were truly serious.

But then again since this school had more students from non-magical families with the ones from magical families, the teachers had grown used to dealing and eventually learning to tolerate mistakes, but then again even students from the magical families occasionally made mistakes with their spells or potions.

And yet, Hecate remembered how she had pushed the girl.

Hecate was good at determining talent. She wouldn't have been as successful a teacher if she hadn't, and she had been teaching young witches for a long time, and she had encountered more than a few least able witches in her potions classes and they had been taught potions by their parents and grandparents since they were old enough to hold a ladle.

Ethel Hallow was a top student of her first year class, there was no doubt at all in Miss Hardbroom's mind but when you placed a girl like Ethel next to a girl like Mildred Hubble and you were only looking at the surface then you knew Mildred was always going to be a bottom level student.

And yet..

Mildred was more talented than many of the girls in her year. It was there. She was a witch, Hecate could see that but her background made it hard to teach the girl. Hecate was not used to teaching students their potions from scratch and that had frustrated her, so she had decided to just place Mildred in her classes and let her work. She was driven to push the girl, make her stand up and fight to become a witch. Unfortunately, the girl had seemingly no aptitude for potions and remembering what different ingredients did, but she had pushed the girl.

Hecate realised after a few weeks of observing the girl working on potions here at Pentangles, seeing how slowly she worked to make the potions more potent, she realised she had misjudged the girl, but it was just too late for her to do anything to let her amend her mistakes. There were two types of potion makers - those who could make a potion in their sleep, and those who took incredible care of their potions. Mildred fit into the second category.

And I didn't see it because I was used to teaching witches of the first category, Hecate cursed herself for her mistakes. But one of the biggest was the manner in which she treated the girl. Mildred had never meant to cause any harm at all, and yet she had treated the girl like a leper.

And now this.

Hecate had never seen magic like the type she had seen when Mildred brought those drawings to life. Enchanting had never really caught her interest as a witch. She had always been good at spells and potions and flying because she understood the results, but enchanting required an artistic quality that many witches like Hecate lacked.

But Mildred was an artist. She had skills in a totally different field that Hecate had never even tried to study, believing it was frivolous and wasteful since pictures, paintings, and sculptures never helped people in the long run whereas spells and potions did. And yet she had just witnessed Mildred use enchanting to defeat a woman Hecate was quite pleased to see the back of. The Great Wizard hadn't said anything about the picture in the form of Cackles Academy with Agatha and her coven locked in, but Hecate didn't know if the wizard even cared since Agatha and her coven were likely to be locked up again anyway, so what difference did it make?

Hecate's mind went back to Mildred.

The girl had certainly grown - the fact she had shown more maturity in the last few weeks than Ethel ever had, and she had a new talent in enchanting and had shown a growing aptitude in spells while her potions were getting there, and from discreet little enquiries to the other Pentangles teachers Ada had made shortly after they'd arrived, Mildred had truly grown into a better witch than the girl who had left Cackles.

Hecate went to the room that Ada had taken for herself and knocked on the door. "Come in," the elderly headmistress called, and Hecate transported herself so she appeared close by Ada.

The elderly headmistress had been..knocked off of her perch by Agatha's return and her subsequent imprisonment. Oh, she put on an act for everyone, but Hecate had known her for years. Ada was depressed. Agatha was her sister, and as much pain as she had caused, that had never changed.

Hecate wondered how she was coping with the knowledge Agatha had burnt down the family legacy, but she wasn't going to ask.

Ada was presently reading an important letter, and judging from a part of it she could see, Hecate could tell that it was from the Magic Council. Ada's full attention was on the letter so Hecate wasn't able to see her face.

The elderly witch may not have glanced up, but she knew precisely who was hovering over her. "Hello, Hecate," Ada greeted, her voice trailing away.

She was distracted.

Not a good sign.

"Ada," Hecate returned before she looked down at the letter, but she couldn't see the wording. "Bad news?"

At last Ada looked up. "It's from the Magic Council," she said unnecessarily. "They have finally gotten back to me about the possibility of rebuilding the Academy."

"And what do they say?" Hecate asked, trying valiantly to keep the hope out of her voice. It wasn't that she didn't find Pentangles to be a bad school, it wasn't, but she just felt uncomfortable; Pippa and Mildred, two witches that she had caused problems with in the past, one had been a friend she had discarded and developed a rivalry bordering on animosity with, and the other clearly wanted nothing to do with her, and only tolerated her for the most part.

"They say that they will rebuild the Academy but it will take at least a year and a half to truly purge the castle of the damage caused by the fiendfrye. Apparently, the Great Wizard pulled a few strings and a few favours to speed things up, but it will take a lot of time for the investigators to clean up the mess Agatha made," Ada replied before she shook her head. "I'm grateful to him, believe me. But… what was running through Agatha's mind when she decided to burn down the school in the first place? She wanted to become Headmistress, and yet she just decided to just burn down the school our family has worked long and hard to build, I just don't understand it, Hecate."

Hecate had been thinking about the same thing. Ada had a point. Agatha had tried to take over the school twice, and yet each time she'd failed because she had overlooked something, and Mildred had gotten lucky. Personally, Hecate hoped the woman stayed in that picture Mildred had drawn of the Academy, and when that thought entered her mind she kept it locked up. She had no idea what was going to happen to that picture, and frankly, she didn't care.

In any case, even if the Great Wizard or the Magic Council asked Mildred to let them out, they would be imprisoned faster than they could transport.

Although she thought it unlikely, Hecate wondered if Agatha had wanted to get closer to Mildred so then she could take the girl's magic. It made sense - Agatha had gone to a lot of trouble to find someone who could safely brew that particular fire spell and burn down the castle, and she had known Pentangles was the closest school to Cackles, and with Mildred there it made sense for her to target the other school and take the girl's magic.

Attacking the Great Wizard and doing it all in front of the schools was a bonus.

But she had to be honest.

"Who knows what goes through that woman's mind, Ada, but even if she had taken Mildred's powers then she would have been hunted down by the Great Wizard and we know how he takes attacks on his person," Hecate said.

Ada nodded. "Do you think she did it all to get to Mildred?"

"It's possible," Hecate reasoned. "But I think Mildred may have been a bonus, but who knows. The main thing is we will get the Academy back in….a year and a half. Does…Miss Pentangle know?"

Ada mentally shook her head, wishing that her friend and colleague would finally rebuild broomsticks with Pippa, and the younger woman was amiable enough. She simply didn't know what had set it all off, this petty little rivalry. Miss Pentangle had not really bothered with it ever since the two schools were made to bunk together.

But Hecate really needed to keep her problems to herself, after all a witch, a true witch solved her own problems.

Unless you were Hecate and just decided to ignore them.

"I don't know, I think so."

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Mildred was eternally grateful when the end of year results had come back. When she compared her results to what she had had at Cackles, then you could see the improvement over a short amount of time. Sure, she wouldn't be an expert anytime soon in some of the subjects - potions was one of them, but thanks to her compulsory classes in Potion basics, she had improved and it was there in her results.

As she and the rest of the students collected their results before lining up to collect their broomsticks, using magic to levitate their things and their familiars, Mildred's eyes scanned the results.

She was definitely coming back to the school.

She glanced over at Maud and Enid who were both looking over their own results. Both of them - she wasn't sure what to call them, but close friends seemed to be the best she could describe them - had both been stressed out by the multiple classes, but judging by their expressions they had done reasonably well.

"How have you guys done?" Mildred asked.

She was getting better at being civil with Enid and Maud, and she was speaking to Ethel Hallow. It was doubtful the pair of them would be friendly anytime soon. But ever since Mrs Hallow had refused to make enchanting a core subject at a magical school again, she had avoided Esmerelda and Ethel whenever she could. Not easy since the older girl kept coming into her bedroom.

Maud had an unhappy look on her face. "I didn't get good marks in Magical Archaeology or Charms, transfiguration, but I did well in Potions and Spells," she replied.

"I didn't get good marks in Herbology," Enid said, a smirk on her face.

"Yeah, well you did accidentally cause that plant to explode, covering us in goo," Maud replied, shuddering at the memory before turning to Mildred. "How about you?"

Mildred decided to show her, figuring it would save plenty of time. Maud took the offered paper and her eyes ran over the grades. "Wow, these are great," she commented.

"Yeah, but potions is still my weakest subject," Mildred pointed out, but truthfully she wasn't too bothered. She had managed to achieve a great deal over the last few months. Thinking about that made her wistful. "It's so strange; so much has changed over the last few months," she commented as they walked together to the entrance of the school.

"Yeah, it feels like only yesterday when I was expelled from my last school, and sent to Cackles," Enid remarked, but a sharp look from Maud shut her up. Mildred knew without looking that Maud's eyes were flicking in her direction, remembering how she had been so close to being expelled and had been pushed over the edge.

But Mildred didn't care. She was pleased she had left Cackles, otherwise, she would never have learnt about her talent in enchanting. Sure, the chances she would learn about that same talent were high, she was always drawing, and with her exposure to the witching world, learning magic.. if she had still been in Cackles it may have been years before she discovered the gift, and like she had told Miss Hardbroom the chances of one of the teachers being skilled enough to help her master the talent and even think of new ways it could work, learn about its limits, were remote.

Mr Rowan-Webb and Miss Hardbroom were good teachers, but they didn't know anything about enchanting.

She loved Pentangles; she had loved Cackles as well, but when she had arrived at Pentangles and discovered so many subjects, made friends who were, technically, like her and came from the non-magical world. But ever since Mildred had met Mirabelle Hubble and the story of what had happened to her and the Founding Stone had come out, two things had happened with her relationships with the other kids who came from outside the magical world; some of her friends had been okay with the news that she had magical ancestry, but that particular group had asked themselves more than once during their time at Pentangles if they had magical ancestors of their own. The news that the Hubbles were a magical family at heart had only served to double their own efforts to find out more about their own ancestries.

Unfortunately, the same could not be said of the next group. A few of them were a little..unsure, that was the most friendliest term Mildred could use to describe how they were behaving around her, it was better than downright hostile and jealous, of the revelation she had ancestors. They also blissfully ignored the fact Mirabelle Hubble had given away her magic and the magic of twelve generations of their family, meaning that technically the Hubbles were a non-magical family, and only their distant ancestors were magical.

Others were more jealous than hostile. They had accepted Mildred into their circles because they had, assumed, that she was like them. They seemed to believe she would ditch them and go with the groups of girls and boys who were from magical families, but Mildred wasn't going to do that. She had also found they were jealous because of the Hubble family grimoire, and they believed that just because she had that that meant she would stop speaking to them, and act like some of the students who did believe they were better over them because they were from the magical world.

Pentangles was more tolerant than Cackles, that didn't mean some of the students didn't have the same opinions as others.

Mildred hoped that during the summer, the other kids from the non-magical would realise that despite the grimoire there was a lot of stuff she didn't know, but if they didn't then she didn't know what to do..

"What are you doing this summer?" Maud asked curiously, the expression on her face showing she was clearly trying to be cheerful but the tension was still present.

"I don't know," Mildred replied as they collected their broomsticks. "Mum hasn't told me anything, but that's normal; she likes surprising me," she finished with a smile. "How about you?"

Neither girl really knew themselves, but Mildred could tell that, like herself, they hated the awkwardness that had fallen between them when they had been so close-knit once upon a time. Things were likely to be even more awkward for them when they came back - the news Cackles was going to be rebuilt had swept like a wildfire spell, but it would take a year and a half to rebuild the school, they had to remove the remnants of the spell used to burn it down.

"I'm not sure what my mum and dad have planned," Enid shrugged, and both guessed that when the summer ended Enid would have come back from a tour.

Maud shrugged. All three girls got on their broomsticks, and they chatted with some of the other girls when Merlin Langstaff showed up.

"Hi, Mildred," the boy greeted.

Mildred blushed when she saw him. "Hey Merlin," she returned.

"Have a great summer," the young wizard said, gently kissing her on the cheek.

Mildred blushed harder when the young wizard walked away, and she gently touched the spot where Merlin had kissed her. She had been worried as of late, wondering if Merlin was only interested in her now it was known she was from a witching family, but she would find out for sure later.

Mildred sat astride her broomstick and kicked off. "See you next term!" she hollered.

The End.


End file.
